Network Security Best Practices

This document delves into the crucial topic of network security, outlining best practices for safeguarding both personal and organizational networks. It covers a range of essential security measures, including firewall implementations, intrusion detection systems, secure configurations for devices and software, and access control policies. The emphasis is on providing practical guidance to enhance network resilience against various threats.

Professional Skills for Information and Communication Technology

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Executive summary
This report is a compilation of the assessment of information and network security
applications as the Research and Technology assistant to the Information and Communication
Technology Manager at Info Safe Pvt. Ltd. This report comprises of a brief overview of
information and network security, and the latest developments in this field of technology. The
prevention, detection, documentation and handling of the threats that are posed to the digital
and non digital information of an organisation is known as information security. Information
security involves the formation of strategies for the above purposes, and the protection of
organisational information whether it is stored, or in transit. An evaluation of various
applications that are used for network security in various industries located all over the world
is done for this report. This study also comprises of an analysis of three such security
applications that are currently available in the market and their applications within and
outside the Australian Information Technology industry. The ethical dilemma that the
organization is facing has been addressed and the suggestions and recommendations for the
same have been provided for Info Safe Pvt. Ltd.
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................. 3
An overview of information and network security.............................................................4
Defining information and network security...................................................................4
Assessment of various applications for network security................................................5
Pros and cons of these applications..............................................................................6
The future prospects.......................................................................................................8
5-year expansion plan of Info Safe...............................................................................8
Ethical, social and legal considerations of the expansion plan.........................................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................10
Recommendations....................................................................................................... 10
References.................................................................................................................. 12
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Running Head: Report
Introduction
This report is a compilation of the assessment of information and network security
applications as the Research and Technology assistant to the Information and Communication
Technology Manager at Info Safe Pvt. Ltd. This report comprises of a brief overview of
information and network security, and the latest developments in this field of technology. An
evaluation of various applications that are used for network security in various industries
located all over the world is done for this. This report also comprises of an analysis of three
such security applications that are currently available in the market and their applications
within and outside the Australian Information Technology industry. Info Safe Pvt. Ltd. is a
four years old organisation that specializes in the information and network security domain
(Siemens, 2014). They work for the development and customization of the applications that
provide the services and serve their clients that are located in various cities in the Australian
mainland. The primary clients for this organisation are small and medium sized enterprises
(SME) and they operate by undertaking projects that help in the development of in house
software or in the customization of software that are purchased off the shelf with their
vendors. Post their four years of successful operations in this field Info Safe is now planning
to expand and diversify into serving the organisations that operate in both online and offline
mode. For doing this, the organisation needs to provide online security to these organisations
by ensuring the security of their web portals and database available online. As suggested by
the Business Development Manager of Info Safe, the potential clients for this diversification
of includes some hospitality and pharmaceutical industries along with online gambling
organisations. However, the provisioning of information and network security services to
some of these organisations may involve ethical dilemmas as these organisations may
engage in some activities that are not socially acceptable by all. Info Safe should now decide
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between operating purely for financial gains or think about sustainable growth, taking into
consideration the society and the environmental perspective. This report is an investigation
into this ethical dilemma for Info Safe and an overview of the various services that are
provided by them (Douligeris & Serpanos, 2007).
An overview of information and network security
This section of the report conveys to the reader the basics of information and network
security, and their fundamentals. This will help the readers in gaining an understanding of the
subject of information and network security, and also provide the necessary information
regarding the applications and software that are used by Info Safe Private Limited for
providing these services to their clients. This section also analyses and evaluates the
effectiveness of each of these applications to understand their pros and cons for both the
provider as well as the receiver of the services (ETSI, 2014).
Defining information and network security
The prevention, detection, documentation and handling of the threats that are posed to the
digital and non digital information of an organisation is known as information security.
Information security involves the formation of strategies for the above purposes, and the
protection of organisational information whether it is stored, or in transit. The primary
objectives of network security are defined with the CIA triad, with the acronym standing for
confidentiality, integrity and availability (Bauer, 2008). The system designed for an
organisation for the protection of their network infrastructure is known as network security.
Network security prevents the unauthorized access, modification and misuse of a secure
network. The provision of network security services for an organisation comprises of forming
a multiple layer defence for the protection of the organisational network. Each layer extends a
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control over the access to the network and blocks the malicious actors from exploiting and
threatening the security to this network. The advent of Information Technology and
digitization has transformed our entire way of life. All our professional and personal aspects
of life have been affected by digitization and the world has become increasingly connected in
all forms. However, with the added connectivity, the threat to the information and the
network enabling these connections has also increased exponentially. Therefore, there is an
increasing need of application of network security in order to protect and prevent the misuse
of these networks and the information (Eloff & Nel, 2017).
Assessment of various applications for network security
The organisational network and information systems are carrying all the data related to their
operations to an extent that was inconceivable a few years back. Although this has enabled
the business processes and made it easier for them to access the data at any point, from
anywhere, this has also increased the threat to their network and information systems to a
great extent. Therefore, network security has become a top priority for the organisations and
has become an important factor in their development and long term sustainability. Firewalls
are the most basic form of network security software. However, there are a number of
Unified Threat Management (UTM) software that have been developed, that provide
complete security from virus, spyware, intrusions and spam to the organisations. The most
popular software that offer unified threat management services are mentioned below:
 Sonicwall by Dell
 Norton Security by Symantec
 Kaspersky Endpoint Security by Kaspersky Lab
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Sonicwall is an offering by Dell Labs which provides complete cloud and web security
services and online support for network security, while helping in sustaining the performance
of the organisation and simplifying the management processes of the same. It is a robust
network security system having centralized control, and it provides protection to the
organisation against all emerging threats to their information and network. It is also one of
the most advanced solutions for network security that works towards providing control
against data leakage, restricted file sharing and access control to the applications of the
organisation. It also helps in the management of the bandwidth and its control as per the
organizational requirements. Norton security is an offering of Symantec which provides
centralized management of the organisational policies with customizable protection on an
enterprise wide basis. It thoroughly scans the organisational system and network and
efficiently works towards the monitoring and improvement of the organizational performance
through it. The Kaspersky Endpoint Security helps in extending security to the organizations
form malicious programs including viruses, hacker attacks, spam, worms and various other
intrusion attacks. It protects the organizational security and network against vulnerabilities
and constantly keeps the systems updated against the latest security threats.
Pros and cons of these applications
Sonicwall is a fairly easy to use and pervasive network security software which helps in
providing a complete network security solution to the organizations. It detects malware and
recognizes any probable threats to the security of the organizational network and information.
Norton security is an offering of Symantec which provides centralized management of the
organisational policies with customizable protection on an enterprise wide basis. The
Kaspersky Endpoint Security helps in extending security to the organizations form malicious
programs including viruses, hacker attacks, spam, worms and various other intrusion attacks
(Cyberspace, 2014). It protects the organizational security and network against vulnerabilities
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and constantly keeps the systems updated against the latest security threats. The advantages
of setting up network security applications, either in house, or customized from off the shelf
software are numerous. They help in the protection of the organisational data and help in
keeping a check on any unauthorized access to this. Any organisation network contains
confidential information related to their clients and the organisational processes. Any person
who is not authorized to access this data, can take advantage of this, by getting their hands on
the sensitive information related to the organisation (Services, 2016). Network security tools
also prevent the organisations from cyber attacks and hackers by providing the complete
security solution to the information and the network of the organisation. However, there are
also a few disadvantages of setting up these softwares for network security of the
organizations. Some of these are discussed here. The setting up of these software can prove to
be expensive for the organisation and their purchase and customization can become
increasingly expensive for organisations having small organizational networks. The
installation of this software is time consuming and most of these provide multiple
authentication levels for logging in into the system which can get tedious for the employees.
This software most of the time require passwords to be unique, constituting of a combination
of special characters, alphabets, and numeric characters. Keeping a track of all these
passwords can also be difficult for the employees. Additional application of these tools in the
organisational network will require additional hiring of technicians who need to continuously
provide support for these software. A network administrator needs to be present in the
organisation all the time in order to ensure that the working of the organisational network and
the network security tools is smooth. The training of these administrators and IT technicians
can also prove to be expensive for the organisation (Idris & Kassim, 2010). While the
installation of the software is automated, people overseeing this can cause creeping in of
human error in the security system which can provide loopholes in the network security
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system. Any Insider or person having knowledge of the IT systems can take advantage of
these.
The future prospects
Info Safe provides network security solutions by developing applications for information and
network security by themselves and also by customizing the off the shelf software that are
present in the market. Presently serving a number of clients located in all the major cities of
Australia as small and medium enterprises, Info Safe is working towards the expansion of
their business by additionally planning on providing services to the organisations that also
have an online presence. Online security is much more complex and multi dimensional than
the offline information security, as there is greater risk involved with the online applications
and threats. The Business Development Manager has suggested the expansion of business by
serving organisations from the hospitality industry and online gambling organisations, and
fulfilling their network security needs. As a part of the information communication and
technology team, the organisation is suggested to go ahead with this expansion and venture
into this new line of business while ensuring that this does not involve any unethical practice.
The following section presents the plan of expansion of the services of Info Safe Ltd. for the
next five years (Systems, 2000).
5-year expansion plan of Info Safe
As the organisation Info Safe plans to expand their client base, and their operations, it is
important that they do not just focus on the financial gains and instead work towards
sustainability and think about the social and environmental impact on the industry as well.
Any negligence on the end of the administrator can negatively affect the entire network
performance of the organisation, which can cause interruption in the organisational
performance. There have been multiple instances of employees trying to sabotage the image
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of an organisation or attempting to sell the organizational data or information of an
organisation once they have left the organisation, or are expelled. The administrators need to
therefore take immediate action in case of termination of the employees by restricting their
access to all the organisational data and network.
Ethical, social and legal considerations of the expansion plan
The organisations working towards IT security of their clients can gain access to the
confidential data that belongs to the organisation and also some privileged information about
both, the organisation as well as the individuals working for them. This power can sometimes
be abused by the security personnel either deliberately or inadvertently. There is no
standardized training available to be provided to the security personnel in order to keep them
away from indulging in these activities. However, these organisations and the professionals
working in with them are increasingly being provided the knowledge to address these ethical
dilemmas and the complex side of their job. The training as well as education of the
professionals working in the IT industry only focuses on the knowledge and understanding of
the technical skills. There is little consideration given to the possibility to misuse this
knowledge and most of these professionals do not even realize how their jobs can involve
possible ethical issues (Cisco, 2008). Most of the ethical issues that these IT professionals
face are due to the involvement of privacy of the organisation, their clients, and their
employee information. There are certain legal issues associated with their profession as well,
which are different from the ethical issues. While an organisation providing network security
to their client may have the legal right to monitor all the processes and functions, it might not
be ethically right to do so without the client consent.
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Conclusion
This report comprises of a brief overview of information and network security, and the latest
developments in this field of technology. An evaluation of various applications that are used
for network security in various industries located all over the world is done for this. This
report also comprises of an analysis of three such security applications that are currently
available in the market and their applications within and outside the Australian Information
Technology industry. Info Safe Pvt. Ltd. is a four years old organisation that specializes in
the information and network security domain. They work for the development and
customization of the applications that provide the services and serve their clients that are
located in various cities in the Australian mainland. The ethical dilemma that the organization
is facing has been addressed and the suggestions and recommendations for the same have
been provided for Info Safe Pvt. Ltd.
Recommendations
The advent of Information Technology and digitization has transformed our entire way of
life. All our professional and personal aspects of life have been affected by digitization and
the world has become increasingly connected in all forms. However, with the added
connectivity, the threat to the information and the network enabling these connections has
also increased exponentially. As a provider of network and information security, it is
necessary that the organisation maintains confidentiality of all the data of their clients by
centrally storing it and retrieving it effortlessly. By serving organisations such as online
gambling organizations Info Safe should maintain professionalism and serve them only
providing them the data security services without indulging in any other plan of business. In
order to expand their business, Info Safe must enlarge their client base and start serving them
by offering more in house services like firewall, accounting software assistance and
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enterprise resource planning. The administrator of a network has the responsibility to manage
the network and control it. Therefore, he also has the power to restrict the employees from
gaining access to certain data and allow or deny the employees of the client organisation the
permission on the basis of their place in the organisational hierarchy and specialisation.
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References
Bauer, M. (2008). ITU Study on the Financial Aspects of Network Security: Malware and
Spam. ITU. Retrieved from https://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/cybersecurity/docs/itu-
study-financial-aspects-of-malware-and-spam.pdf
Cisco. (2008). Network Security Baseline. Retrieved from
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Security/
Baseline_Security/securebasebook.pdf
Cyberspace, C. i. (2014). Best Practices for Keeping Your Home Network Secure. Retrieved
from
http://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/Cyber/Slicksheet_BestPracticesForKe
epingYourHomeNetworkSecure_Web_update.pdf
Douligeris, C., & Serpanos, D. (2007). Network Security: Current Status and Future
Directions. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?
id=dHys9OXMFMIC&pg=PA311&lpg=PA311&dq=netwrok+securtiy+pdf&source=
bl&ots=H-
MTENJsrH&sig=8XnoiZL3T3T1MIWJ8y8MsiS1q6Y&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKE
wiu2Nq71NzWAhWMNY8KHXw8BQMQ6AEIRTAG#v=onepage&q=netwrok
%20securtiy%20pdf&f=false
Eloff, J., & Nel, A. (2017). A Methodology for Network Security. Retrieved from
ieeexplore.ieee.org: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/639804/?reload=true
ETSI. (2014). Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); NFV Security; Security and Trust
Guidance. Retrieved from
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http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/NFV-SEC/001_099/003/01.01.01_60/gs_NFV-
SEC003v010101p.pdf
Idris, N., & Kassim, M. (2010). Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) Security Guideline.
Retrieved from http://www.cybersecurity.my/data/content_files/11/649.pdf
Services, A. (2016). Overview of AWS Security - Network Security. Retrieved from
https://d0.awsstatic.com/whitepapers/Security/Networking_Security_Whitepaper.pdf
Siemens. (2014). Network security: industrial security. Retrieved from
https://www.siemens.com/digitalization/public/pdf/brochure_network-security_en.pdf
Systems, C. (2000). Network Security: ISOC NTW 2000. Retrieved from
http://www.potaroo.net/t4/pdf/security.pdf
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