Identifying and preventing vulnerabilities
One of the roles of the manager is to ensure the network is safe from attacks and threats of any kind. There are many techniques that can be used to help keep a network safe, including:
- secure
The purpose of penetration testing is to determine how a network is against an attack. It involves authorised users (sometimes an external party or organisation) who probe the network for potential weaknesses and attempt to exploit them. that enables network managers to test the resilience of networks themselves is also available.
Network forensics
Network forensics involves monitoring the traffic on a network. At regular intervals transmitted packets are copied. The copy and information about the packet are then stored for later analysis. This is usually processed in batches. The information gathered can help identify invasive traffic (from hackers) or to determine where data is being sent.
Network policies
Users of a network are often the source of threats, whether accidental or deliberate. A network manager should have an acceptable use policy which ensures:
- users have a secure, hard-to-guess password which meets specified conditions
- users change their password on a regular basis
- users cannot connect unauthorised equipment to the network, such as USB memory sticks, smartphones and tablets
- levels of access are given, which allow only authorised users to access sensitive data
- a regular procedure is in place
- a disaster recovery procedure exists in case of data loss
- regular penetration testing and forensic analysis
- regular maintenance including applying software upgrades and security to equipment
- preventing physical access to servers
- maintaining a high level of security with up-to-date and firewalls
User access levels
Access levels determine the facilities a user has access to, such as:
- software
- internet access
- documents and data
- the ability to install and/or remove software
- the ability to maintain other users' accounts
A network manager should make sure users can only access the facilities they need. For example, an office worker might need access to productivity software, email and the internet, but not to install software or access other users' accounts. Restriction limits the actions a user can take, thereby reducing the potential of threats.
