Network Security

The term information security and network security are often used interchangeably. Network security system is generally taken as providing protection at the boundaries of an organization by keeping out intruders (hackers). Information security explicitly focuses on protecting data resources from malware attack or simple mistakes by people within an organization by use of data loss prevention (DLP) techniques. Such techniques compartmentalize large networks with internal boundaries.

In the stream of networking, the area of network security consists of the provisions and policies adopted by the network administrator to prevent and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of the computer network and network-accessible resources.

Network Security Concepts:

Network security initializes from authenticating the user, commonly with a username and a password. Since this needs just one thing besides the user name, i.e. the password is something you 'know', this is sometimes termed one factor authentication. Authentication with two factor something you 'have' is also used (e.g. a security tokens or 'dongle', an ATM card, or your Mobile phone), or with three factor authentication something you 'are' is also used (e.g. a fingerprint or retinal scan).

Once authenticated, the Firewall enforces access policies such as what services are allowed to be accessed by the network users.  Though it is effective to prevent unauthorized access, this component may fail to check potentially harmful content such as computer worms or Trojan being transmitted over the network. Anti-virus program or an Intrusion prevention System (IPS) help detect and inhibit the action of such malware. Individual events which occur on the network may be logged for audit purposes and for later high level analysis.

Security Management:

Security Management installed for networks is different for all kinds of situations. A small house or an office would only require basic security while large businesses will require high maintenance and advanced software and hardware to prevent malicious attacks from hacking and spamming.