Net-Centric Computing
Network Security
Julius Makinde
Email: [Link]@[Link]
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Introduction
• In most cases, computer science is concerned with
achieving desired behavior.
• Security is concerned with preventing undesired behavior.
• Computer security – focuses on securing systems against
viruses, secure data storage, OS security, etc.
• Network security – focuses on security of data as it is
transmitted between networked systems.
– this includes authentication protocols, encryption of
transmitted data, firewalls, etc.
– It also describes the security tools, strategies, and
security policies designed to monitor, prevent and
respond to unauthorized network intrusion.
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Introduction..
• Unauthorized users are always interested in gaining
access to a network for malicious purposes.
• There intentions ranges from bringing down the
network to identity theft or data corruption.
• Therefore, there is need to secure a network for safe
transmission of data from one point to another.
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Data as the Life-Blood of any system
• Every system or organization depends on data for
analyzing her growth and discover ways to improve
on her delivery.
• Network can be seen as the heartbeat that pumps the
data from source to destination.
• Every attempt of cyber threat is to get at the data, it
has to be through unprotected or weak security on a
network.
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Fundamental of Network Security
• There are 3 main bedrocks of any network security strategy:
– Protection: tools or policies designed to prevent network
security intrusion.
– Detection: tools specifically responsible for analyzing
network traffic for the identification of problems before
they are escalated to cause serious harm.
– Response: the ability to react to identified network
security threats and resolve them as quickly as possible.
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Challenges in achieving Network Security
• Many layers in network architecture
• Many different media of network connection
• Adversary’s location hard to determine
• New attacks keep emerging
• Cryptographic overhead
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Basic Elements of Network Security
• It is expected that a secure communication network should
provide the following services:
• AAA
– Authentication
– Authorization
– Accounting
• Secured communication
– Confidentiality
– Integrity
– Non-repudiation
• Availability
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Basic Elements of Network Security..
AAA
• Authentication
– Message: a process that assures the recipient that the
message is from the intended source.
– Entity: a process verifying that someone is who they claim
they are.
• Methods for the determination of entity’s identity:
– what a user knows – username and password, or PIN
– what a user has – USB dongle, smart card, private
key, etc.
– what a user is – characteristics that can be verified:
fingerprint, retinal images, etc.
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Basic Elements of Network Security..
AAA..
• Authorization
– Process of granting the user access to specific system
resources
• based on user’s profile and the local/global policy
controlling the resource access
• follows the authentication process.
– Ensured by access control lists (ACLs)
• define permissions to perform particular operation or
to access particular resources.
• Accounting
– Monitoring the users’ usage of network services for
management, planning, billing, or any other purposes.
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Basic Elements of Network Security..
Secured communication
• Confidentiality
– Protects data from sniffers during transmission, only the
sender and receiver understand the content of the
message.
– Secured by message encryption
• Integrity
– Protects data from unauthorized modification.
– secured by encryption and hashing algorithms.
• Non-repudiation
– Proves origin/delivery of the message
• Neither the sender nor the receiver can deny the
transmission or the reception of the message.
– Secured by digital signatures 10
Basic Elements of Network Security..
Availability
• Ensures that network resources are accessible and usable any
time upon demand by an authorized system entity.
• The services are provided according to the system design
whenever users require them.
• Services must be protected from Denial of service (DoS) and
DDoS attacks.
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Network Security Tools and Techniques
• Network security strategies need to be able to address the
different methods threat actors might employ. The strategies
include:
– Access control: limits user access and resources to only
the parts of the network that directly apply to individual
users’ responsibilities.
– Anti-malware software: designed to identify dangerous
programs and prevent them from spreading, thus
minimizing the damage to the network.
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Network Security Tools and Techniques..
– Anomaly detection: This requires understanding the
normal operation of a network. Network anomaly detection
engines (ADE) allow you to analyze your network, so that
when breaches occur, you’ll be alerted to them quickly
enough to be able to respond.
– Application security: helps to establish security
parameters for any applications that may be relevant to a
network security.
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Network Security Tools and Techniques..
– Data loss prevention (DLP): The weakest link is the
human element. DLP technologies and policies help protect
staff and other users from misusing and possibly
compromising sensitive data or allowing said data out of
the network.
– Email security: focused on shoring up human-related
security weaknesses. Email security helps identify
dangerous emails and can also be used to block attacks and
prevent the sharing of vital data.
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Network Security Tools and Techniques..
–Intrusion prevention systems (IPS): also known as Intrusion
Detection. It constantly scans and analyzes network
traffic/packets, so that different types of attacks can be
identified and responded to quickly. These systems keep a
database of attack methods, so as to be able to recognize
threats immediately.
–Network segmentation: grants the right access to the right
traffic, while restricting traffic from suspicious sources.
–Security information and event management (SIEM):pulls
the right information from so many different tools and
resources — particularly when time is an issue.
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Network Security Tools and Techniques..
– Virtual private network (VPN): used to authenticate
communication between secure networks and an endpoint
device. Remote-access VPNs generally use IPsec or Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) for authentication, creating an encrypted
line to block other parties from eavesdropping.
– Web security: a blanket term to describe the network security
measures businesses take to ensure safe web use when
connected to an internal network. This helps prevent web-based
threats from using browsers as access points to get into the
network.
–Wireless security: wireless networks are less secure than
traditional networks. Thus, strict wireless security measures are
necessary. 16
Network Security Tools and Techniques..
– Endpoint security: When BYOD is allowed, sometimes
the personal devices become targets when users rely on
them to access business networks. Endpoint security adds a
layer of defense between remote devices and business
networks.
– Firewalls: function much like gates that can be used to
secure the borders between a network and the internet to
manage network traffic, allowing authorized traffic
through while blocking access to non-authorized traffic.
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Classification firewalls
• The followings are the basic classes of firewalls
– Packet filtering firewalls – operate on network layer.
– Circuit level gateways – operate on session/transport layer.
– Application gateways (or proxy servers) – operate on
application layer.
– Dynamic packet filtering firewalls (or Session filtering
firewalls) a combination of the three above.
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Benefits of Network Security
– Builds Trust: Network security boosts client and consumer
confidence, and it protects businesses from the reputational
and legal fallout of a security breach.
– Mitigates Risk: Minimizes the business and financial impact
of a breach if it does occur.
– Protects Proprietary Information: Network security ensures
the protection of information and data of clients shared across
the network.
– Enables a More Modern Workplace: This allows employees
to work and collaborate securely from any location using VPN.
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