Network Threats that Demand Security

Every computer network should have a system that secures it for any network threats. Having network security system is necessary. This is particularly true for businesses and offices maintaining vital and highly confidential information as well as crucial business applications. Doing so ensures undisrupted operation and saves you from unnecessary security breaches. 

Types of Network Threats

The following are network threats that one should be aware of to be able to address appropriately:

• Denial-of-Service (DoS) - is probably the nastiest, and most difficult to address. This is very easy to launch and difficult (sometimes impossible) to track. Usually the request of the attacker is not easy to refuse without also refusing legitimate requests for service. However, this is becoming less popular now compared during the late 1996 and early 1997.

          Here are some things to do to reduce the risk of being stung by a denial of service attack:

• Do not run a visible-to-the-world servers at a level too close to capacity
• Use packet filtering to prevent obviously forged packets from entering into the network address space; and  
• Keep up-to-date security-related patches for the operating systems.

• Unauthorized Access – is a very high-level term that may refer to different sorts of attacks. This is used to access some resource that should not be provided to the attacker. For instance, web server host should provide anyone with requested web pages. However, it should not provide command shell access without being sure that the request is from someone who should get it, such as a local administrator.

• Executing Commands Illicitly – are classified based on the severity of this problem: normal user access, and administrator access. In a normal user access, the attacker can read files, mail them to other people, and other similar things. On the other hand, if the security breach is through administrator access, it means that the attacker has gained administrator privileges on the host. The attacker can make configuration changes to the host such as changing its IP address, putting a start-up script in place to cause the machine to shut down every time it's started, or something similar.

• Confidentiality Breaches – this usually happen when a competitor or enemy may wish to use a certain information about the host to destroy it. It is possible that compromise of a normal account of the user can be enough to cause damage such as obtaining information that can be used to destroy the credibility of the company. It will be worse if some thrill-seeker perpetrators will do this for a living by serving crooked competitors.

• Destructive Behavior – there are two major categories for this sort of break-in.

Data Diddling – this may be the worst act of break-in. At first, it might not be obvious. It can alter the numbers in the spreadsheet, change the dates in the projections and plans, change the account numbers for the auto-deposit of certain paychecks and so on. Tracing the problem down will certainly be difficult.

Data Destruction – this is done by perpetrators who have nothing to do and would simply want to destroy the data of the host.

These risks and threats are the very reason for availing network security. Network security must include provisions made in an underlying computer network infrastructure and policies that can be adopted by the network administrator to protect the network. It should also include network-accessible resources, and consistent and continuous monitoring and measurement of its effectiveness (or lack) combined together.