A Brief Note On Firewalls And Network Security

Despite the presence of network security devices such as firewalls and other security appliances, today's corporate networks are still vulnerable to both internal and external attacks by hackers intent on creating havoc. By proactively

The proficiency and efficacy of the cyberspace in its application in accounting, finance, system designs, manufacturing etc., cannot be denied nor neglected. The reality of the twenty-first century is simple; no organization can survive without the adoption and implementation of the mechanism of information technology to their area of business. On the contrary perspective, there are several challenges that are associated with the cyberspace, among which is majorly cyber security. Recently the hackers’ activity has really skyrocketed and has become a major concern for organizations, states and federal governments and even international organizations. Several regulatory schemes are put in place to mitigate the activities of hackers across the globe.

Since the onset of the first packet switching event that many believe to be beginning of the internet, no other technology besides the printing press has ever transformed the ability to deliver information. Although the internet is used by a large percentage of the civilized world, few Americans realize how vital cyberspace is to our national infrastructure. Today, we are faced with even more threats although it has been a recognized problem since 2009, when President Barrack Obama said “The cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation. It’s also clear that we’re not as prepared as we should be, as a government or as a country (Obama, 2009).” Every industry that operates in the United States is dependent on the internet for some aspect of their business. Commerce, transportation, financial institutions, military, as well as industrial control systems are all interconnected. This interconnectedness has created vulnerabilities within their infrastructure that have increasingly become targets of terrorists, script kiddies, foreign governments and hackers of all types.

The world of cyber security continues to introduce new threats each year against network infrastructures and computer devices. In the recent years, the impact from cyber-attacks has wreaked havoc on many company brands and organizational reputations. As this issue grows so does the technology to prevent and protect against these malicious attacks. It is absolutely crucial for organizations and businesses to shift focus from defense for different types of attacks to improving safeguards to mitigate the loss of sensitive data when an attack occurs. In addition to the traditional security technology used to detect an attack, companies will have to include

Cyber-security demands are ever increasing in the field of Information Technology with the globalization of the internet. Disruptions due to cyber-attacks are affecting the economy, costing companies billions of dollars each year in lost revenue. To counter this problem

I am Professor Kirk Mooring and I will be your instructor for this class. In this class, you will learn the fundamental core theories of information and network security. In this course, you will learn and use technology skills that are in demand in today’s job market. With so many threats and vulnerabilities created daily that we have to learn to work as a team in order to protect our data with the appropriate security safeguards. You will study the concepts that will help you evaluate and mitigate risk by selecting the appropriate security controls and technologies.

Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese communist party leader, in 1978, had a famous saying, “if you open the window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in.” (Minzner). This saying has affected the way China contact with the world and trading business. When the Internet officially became available to China in 1994, and because it got popular fast reaching to twenty eight percent of the Chinese citizen in 2009. The Chinese government realized that the Internet has some information that they want to keep it away from their citizens as it is consider as either violation or forbidden information with the Chinese morals and traditions. The Ministry of Public Security by the government in China begun to construct the Great Firewall (Pingp). The Great Firewall is a digital system to control and sense the Internet in China that officially went public in 2000 (Pingp). The main reasons for creating it were to impose Internet security, and censorship to the Chinese citizens. The Great Firewall uses techniques like: “Domain Name System (DNS) pollution and injection, Internet Protocol (IP) and port blocking, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) reset, interfere secure connection, proxy blocking, IPv6 censorship and email blocking.” (Bu 1).

In today’s world it is highly impossible for any kind of business to function without the assistance of technology. Any company that relies on digital data and computer networks have exposure to a host of varying Cyber Attacks. As technology continues to evolve, cyber security breaches become even more difficult to solve. The cybersecurity world rightly believes in the maxim – It’s not if, it’s when!

Some of these critical challenges that this industry faces are: network access control, identification, authentication, wireless and mobility, and most recently, securing cloud computing. With the increase of technology, wireless devices, and number of attacks happening, our main goal is protect your network and increase productivity by identifying and eliminate threats before they happen. There are companies that haven’t been so lucky. The costs and potential consequences of security problems can be devastating, if not, disastrous.

The increasing volume and sophistication of cyber security threats including targeted data theft, phishing scams and other online vulnerabilities demand that we remain vigilant about securing our systems and information.

Governments, organizations and companies co-operate to secure cyber space. In fact, the prevention of cyber criminal activities is the most critical aspect in the fight against cyber crime. It’s mainly based on the concepts of awareness and information sharing. A proper security posture is the best defence against cyber crime (Paganini, Perluigi, 2014)

In an e-commerce world, organizations are susceptible to hackers and intruders. Thus creating the information technology protection systems which is used to reduce the possibility of intrusions from occurring. Intrusions occur by uninvited outsiders (sometimes intruders can be internal users like employees) who try to access an organization’s information system using the internet with the intent to gain competitive advantage of some sort. Organizations depend on security technology to avoid loss from security breach, as well as to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. However, firewalls are also vulnerable to errors, and implementing a security technology comes with challenges and critical decisions that can possibly cause a financial burden on the organization if done without seriousness and commitment. “Information security is about managing risk, and managing risk is about discovering and measuring threats to information assets; and taking actions to respond to those threats” (Al-Awadi, & Renaud, 2007, p.3). This paper will discuss a few aspects that are involved with firewalls and intrusion detection systems.

Cyber security is in the forefront of every organizations’ core strategy to protect its data and information systems. This increased awareness about cyber security has been driven partly due to the increasing number of cyber-attacks and also due to the various government regulations such as HIPAA, SOX, PCI and so forth. Unlike in the past, attacks on organizations are more targeted, organized and sophisticated and the target of these attacks on organizations are to obtain proprietary and sensitive information. The exponential growth in the number of cyber-attacks can no longer be contained using static, existing standard security

Safety of information is the most valuable asset in any organization particular those who provide financial service to others. Threats can come from a variety of sources such as human threats, natural disasters and technical threats. By identifying the potential threats to the network, security measure can be taken to combat these threats, eliminate them or reduce the likelihood and impact if they should occur.

Almost all kind of large and small organizations might face increasing number of attacks into their network or intellectual property. This may lead to data disclosure, data destruction, and damage of organization’s reputation. There are numerous threats in the cyber space which might be capable of stealing, destroying or making use of out sensitive data for financial and non-financial gains. As the amount of computer, mobile and internet users increases, so does the number of exploiters.