Introduction

Cybersecurity is the protection of internet-connected systems such as hardware, software and data from cyberthreats. The practice is used by individuals and enterprises to protect against unauthorized access to data centers and other computerized systems.

A strong cybersecurity strategy can provide a good security posture against malicious attacks designed to access, alter, delete, destroy or extort an organization's or user's systems and sensitive data. Cybersecurity is also instrumental in preventing attacks that aim to disable or disrupt a system's or device's operations.

 

Cybersecurity is a broad and rapidly evolving field with various specialized areas which we will be dealing here with one of them:

Network Security 

 techtarget.com

 

Network Security

 

Network Security is the protection of the underlying networking infrastructure from unauthorized access, misuse, or theft. It involves creating a secure infrastructure for devices, applications, users, and applications to work in a secure manner.   How does network security work? Network security combines multiple layers of defenses at the edge and in the network. Each network security layer implements policies and controls. Authorized users gain access to network resources, but malicious actors are blocked from carrying out exploits and threats. How do I benefit from network security? Digitization has transformed our world. How we live, work, play, and learn have all changed. Every organization that wants to deliver the services that customers and employees demand must protect its network. Network security also helps you protect proprietary information from attack. Ultimately it protects your reputation. cisco.com

 

Types of Network Securities

 The few types of network securities are discussed below:

1. Antivirus and Anti-Malware Software
2. Cloud Security
3. Email Security
4. Access control
   
5. Firewalls
6. Intrusion Prevention System(IPS)

Antivirus and Antimalware

1.Antivirus Antivirus is a type of software program that helps in protecting the computer system from viruses. It detects the viruses in the computer system and destroys them. It protects the computer system from specific malware. It is used for protection from some traditional and simple threats that can harm the computer system. It is mostly used in personal computers for safety purposes.  Example:  Avast, QuickHeal, AVG 2. Antimalware :    Antimalware is also a software program but it protects the computer systems from all kinds of malware i.e., viruses, trojans, worms, etc. It protects the computer system from all kinds of malware. It is used for protection from some new, sophisticated, and more dangerous threats that can harm the computer system. It is mostly used in organizational computers for safety purposes.  Example:  MalwareBytes, SpyBot Search & Destroy

 

cloud security

For the organizations making their transition to cloud, cloud security is an essential factor while choosing a cloud provider. The attacks are getting stronger day by day and so the security needs to keep up with it. For this purpose it is essential to pick a cloud provider who offers the best security and is customized with the organization’s infrastructure. Cloud security has a lot of benefits –

• Centralized security : Centralized security results in centralizing protection. As managing all the devices and endpoints is not an easy task cloud security helps in doing so. This results in enhancing traffic analysis and web filtering which means less policy and software updates.
• Reduced costs : Investing in cloud computing and cloud security results in less expenditure in hardware and also less manpower in administration
• Reduced Administration : It makes it easier to administer the organization and does not have manual security configuration and constant security updates.
• Reliability : These are very reliable and the cloud can be accessed from anywhere with any device with proper authorization.
  

 

Email security

 Basically, Email security refers to the steps where we protect the email messages and the information that they contain from unauthorized access, and damage. It involves ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of email messages, as well as safeguarding against phishing attacks, spam, viruses, and another form of malware.  It can be achieved through a combination of technical and non-technical measures.

 Some standard technical measures include the encryption of email messages to protect their contents, the use of digital signatures to verify the authenticity of the sender, and email filtering systems to block unwanted emails and malware, and the non-technical measures may include training employees on how to recognize and respond to phishing attacks and other email security threats, establishing policies and procedures for email use and management, and conducting regular security audits to identify and address vulnerabilities. We can say that email security is important to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access and ensure the reliability and confidentiality of electronic communication.

 

 

Access control

 

Access control is a method of limiting access to a system or to physical or virtual resources. It is a process by which users can access and are granted certain prerogative to systems, resources or information. Access control is a security technique that has control over who can view different aspects, what can be viewed and who can use resources in a computing environment. It is a fundamental concept in security that reduces risk to the business or organization. To establish a secure system, electronic access control systems are used that depend on user credentials, access card readers, auditing and reports to track employee access to restricted business locations and areas. These systems include access control panels to prohibit entry to sensitive areas like alarms and lock down areas to prevent unauthorized access or operations. Access control systems perform identification, authentication, and authorization of users and entities by evaluating required login credentials that may include passwords, pins, bio-metric scans or other authentication factors. There is multi-factor authentication which requires two or more authentication factors which is often an important part of the layered defense to protect access control systems.

 

 

Firewall

 

A firewall is a network security device, either hardware or software-based, which monitors all incoming and outgoing traffic and based on a defined set of security rules it accepts, rejects or drops that specific traffic.    Accept : allow the traffic Reject : block the traffic but reply with an “unreachable error” Drop : block the traffic with no reply A firewall establishes a barrier between secured internal networks and outside untrusted network, such as the Internet.

Intrusion Prevention System

Intrusion Prevention System is also known as Intrusion Detection and Prevention System. It is a network security application that monitors network or system activities for malicious activity. Major functions of intrusion prevention systems are to identify malicious activity, collect information about this activity, report it and attempt to block or stop it.  Intrusion prevention systems are contemplated as augmentation of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) because both IPS and IDS operate network traffic and system activities for malicious activity.  IPS typically record information related to observed events, notify security administrators of important observed events and produce reports. Many IPS can also respond to a detected threat by attempting to prevent it from succeeding. They use various response techniques, which involve the IPS stopping the attack itself, changing the security environment or changing the attack’s content.