Security cracks require pre-emptive spackling

by Tim Fielden
Be the first to comment | I like it!
More »
on this topic
April 10, 2001, 02:37 PM —  InfoWorld — 

IT SEEMS YOU can't open a newspaper or listen to the news these days without learning that yet another company's network has been broken in to.

The Anna Kournikova worm and the I Love You virus are just two of the most notorious recent examples, but the truth is that resilient new viral strains are popping up every day. Even worse, thanks to the advent of always-on DSL, ISDN, and cable modem connections, security breaches that were once limited to large corporations or government facilities are now finding their way into our homes, as well.

Is your network vulnerable? If you do business on the Web or maintain a connection to an outside network, chances are that the answer is yes. Fortunately, it's not hard to decrease the odds of attack or intrusion. Statistics show that more than 80 percent of successful hacks occur because Web technicians fail to install patches for known and publicized bugs. In other words, a little effort can go a long way toward securing your network.

Securing your network

BUSINESS CASE

With the volume of network traffic increasing every day, network security remains a top priority. Most instances of unauthorized access result from simple negligence; so if all your company does is pay attention and adhere to a few basic routines, you'll already be ahead of the game.

TECHNOLOGY CASE

Companies should assess their networking needs and shut down any ports that aren't necessary for day-to-day operations, such as port 53 for DNS access and port 119 for NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) services. Be sure to eliminate unused user IDs and to avoid provisioning SNMP services through the firewall.

PROS

+ Ensures integrity of mission-critical data

+ Protects daily business tasks from operational failure

+ Limits file sharing, thereby improving network performance

CONS

- Requires daily maintenance, placing additional burden on IT staff

- May require periodic implementation of new systems procedures

- May require initial hardware investment

DNS: The good, the bad, the ugly

If you've ever used a URL to represent an IP address, you've used DNS -- a distributed database that provides translation capabilities between domain names and IP addresses. DNS also provides a standard Internet mechanism for storing and accessing other types of data, such as MX (mail exchange) records.


Sealing off the LeaksProtecting your network against hackers need not be a full-time job. By including a few best practices as part of your organization's daily routine, you can prevent leaks from developing -- or at the very least, plug them before the dams break altogether.

* Be alert. One of the best ways to ensure that your network is secure is to keep abreast of developing threats. Security experts agree that ignorance is the most detrimental security problem. Most hacks occur because someone wasn't paying attention. Web sites such as the CERT home page (www.cert.org) are excellent places to get current

I like it!
Post a comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Related content
Resources
White Paper
Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade

Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8 deliver industry leading Windows data protection and system recovery. Download this whitepaper to find out the top reasons to upgrade and how to get continuous data protection and complete system recovery.

Click here to find out more »
Webcast
Best Practices for Backup and Recovery Webcast

Data and system loss — from a hard drive failure, malicious attack, natural disaster, or simple human error — can happen anytime. Don’t leave your business vulnerable. Make sure you have a secure recovery strategy in place. Symantec's latest backup and system recovery technology can efficiently restore critical applications, individual emails and documents and even restore your entire system in minutes in the event of a loss.

Click here to find out more »
White Paper
Delivering Integrated Security, Recovery, and Archive Protection with Symantec Backup Exec

Businesses face a growing challenge to ensure that the IT environment is properly protected. Backup Exec 12 integrates with other applications in the Symantec family of products, to complement your current data protection strategy, keep your data securely backed up and make it recoverable when you need it most.

Click here to find out more »
Free stuff

Enterprise 2.0 Implementation
By Aaron C. Newman, Jeremy Thomas
Published by McGraw-Hill
Learn more!

Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services
By Zach Seils, Joel Christner
Published by Cisco Press
Learn more!

Featured Sponsor
Case Study: AISO grows its "green" business

AISO founders envisioned a Web hosting company that was environmentally friendly. While the company employed energy-efficient innovations like solar panels, its infrastructure produced unacceptable power and cooling requirements. Find out how AISO leveraged AMD technology to overcome their challenge in this case study white paper.

Download this white paper »
Myth of the Million Dollar Database

In this whitepaper, Scalar explores the opportunity to change the landscape with respect to mission critical databases built around Oracle. Leveraging technologies such as Linux, high-end commodity processing power and Oracle RAC technology to architect, design, build and maintain database infrastructure that delivers maximum availability, reliability and performance at a fraction of traditional cost.

Download this white paper »
Success Story: Weather.com handles whatever nature serves up

On a typical day, weather.com, the Web site for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, serves up between 15 million and 20 million page views. But in September 2004, when back-to-back hurricanes ransacked Florida, the peak traffic on one day more than tripled: over 70 million page views by more than 7 million unique visitors. Read the full success story now.

Download this white paper »
More Resources