First, let me also explain what a network is, in particular a computer network. A computer network is a group of interconnected computers. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics. This article provides a general overview of some types and categories and presents the basic components of a network. Networks can be
classified according to the topologies. There are a variety of
topologies including bus, ring, star, mesh, Star-bus, Tree or
hierarchical topology network.
The bus, ring, and star are the ones commonly used when trying to run a
corporate company. I would recommend a star configuration when doing
so. The purpose behind using the star configuration is ****d off the
fact that a star configuration connects all cables to a central point
of concentration. This point is usually a hub or switch. Nodes
communicate across the network by passing data through the hub. The
reason why I wouldn't use a ring configuration is mainly due to the
fact that the ring configuration is pretty much obsolete in situations
like this where we are applying network topology to a huge corporation.
The reason why I wouldn't use a bus configuration is because it does
not cope well with heavy data rates, limited cable length and the
number of stations, cable breaks to the server disables the whole
entire system, and the performance is degraded if additional computers
are added. The only other possible would be a tree configuration, but
even with that, I think the star would be the best option.
Network security must protect the organization’s ability to function,
enable the safe operation of applications implemented on the
organization’s IT systems, project the date the organization collects
and uses, and safeguard the technology assets in use at the
organization. Today’s organizations are under immense pressure to
acquire and operate integrated, efficient, and capable applications. The
modern organization needs to create an environment that safeguards
applications using the organization’s IT systems, particularly those
applications that serve as important elements of the infrastructure of
the organization including; operating system platforms, e-mail, and
instant messaging (IM) applications. Organizations acquire these
elements either be outsourcing from a service provider or by building
their own. Once an organization’s infrastructure is place, management
must continue to oversee it, and not abdicate the responsibility for the
entire infrastructure to the IT department.
Like I have emphasized earlier, network security is so essential to many
corporations. This is why many companies are starting to increase the
level of security and realizing that half-hearted security systems can
lead to many different disasters. There are so many different threats
you have to worry about when trying to protect a network that holds
important information. The 2004 Computer Security Institute/Federal
Bureau of Investigation (CSI/FBI) ran a study found that 79 percent of
the organizations responding (Primarily large corporations and
government agencies) identified cyber security breaches within with the
last 12 months, a number that is on the decline. The study also found
that 54 percent of these organizations reported financial losses
totaling over $141 million, due to computer security breaches. The
number of respondents identifying unauthorized computer use was 53
percent, down from 56 percent in 2003. Some threats to be concerned with
is accidents, employee mistakes, piracy, copyright infringement,
unauthorized access and/ or data collection, blackmail or information
disclosure, destruction of systems or information, illegal confiscation
of equipment or information, viruses, worms, macros, denial of service,
forces of nature, ISP, power, or WAN service issues from service
providers, equipment failure, bugs, code problems, unknown loopholes,
antiquated or outdated technologies.
Network security isn’t the only important type of security for
corporation; information security is also a very important factor.
Quality security programs begin and end with policy. Information
security is often a management problem, not a technical one, policy
obliges personnel to function in a manner that adds to the security of
information assets, rather than as a threat to those assets. It is
interesting to note that security policies are the least expensive
control to execute, but the most difficult to implement properly. They
are the lowest cost in that they involve only the time and effort of the
management team to create, approve, and communicate. Even if the
management team decides to hire an outside consultant to assist
development of policy, the costs are minimal compared to those of
technical controls. However, shaping policy is difficult because it must
never conflict with laws, stand up in court if challenged, and be
properly administered through dissemination and ********ed acceptance.
To be effective, a policy must be disseminated by all means possible,
including printed personnel manuals, organization intranets, and
periodic supplements. All members of the organization must read,
understand, and agree to the policies. At the same time, policies should
be considered living ********s, in that they require constant
modification and maintenance as the needs of the organization evolves.
Management must define three types of security policy according to The
National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Special Publication
including general or security program policies, issue specific security
polices, and systems-specific security policies.
Like at the beginning of the report we stated that things such as
firewalls were necessary to protect a network, but there is actually
more than just that to protect a network, one of those things is a
security perimeter. A perimeter is the boundary of an area. A security
perimeter defines the edge between the outer limit of an organization’s
security that protects all internal systems from outside threats.
Security perimeters can effectively be implemented as multiple
technologies that segregate the protected information from those who
would attack it. Within security perimeters the organization can
establish security domains, or areas of trust within which users can
freely communicate. The assumption is that if individuals have access to
one system within a security domain, they have authorized access to
all systems within that particular domain. The presence and nature of
the security perimeter is an essential element of the overall security
framework, and the details of implementing the perimeter make up a
great deal of the particulars of the completed security blueprint. The
key components used for planning the perimeter are presented in the
following sections on firewalls, DMZs, proxy servers, and intrusion
detection systems.
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