Worm attack; Two fundamental things you can do to protect your business.
The recent spread of the SQL Slammer Worm in computer networks throughout the world, has once again underscored the criticality of network security. The worm attack brought down the networks of several companies leading to loss of productivity and revenues totalling millions of dollars. The event triggered a crisis for a lot of Indian companies as well, and has raised serious questions about the extent to which they have secured their IT networks.
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Significantly, the
incident brings to fore a most important lesson which
is, that network security is more than just having a
firewall and deploying some antivirus software. In order
to ensure you are adequately protected from external
attacks, Sify Enterprise Security Services recommends
two fundamental things that you do immediately:
1) Periodically conduct Vulnerability
Audits of your IT infrastructure in order to identify
vulnerabilities and ways and means of patching them.
2) Deploy Intrusion Detection Systems to keep track of network activity and alert you in case of attacks so that you can take appropriate action.
Should you need expert assistance,
Sify Enterprise Security Services can conduct vulnerability
audits for you and help you secure your IT infrastructure
in an ongoing manner.
Understanding Network QoS.
Generally there are three techniques that can be used seperately or in combination to improve network QoS
- Controlling the networking environment: You have to provide a controlled networking environment in which the capacity can be pre-planned and adequate performance can be assumed.
- Using management tools: You can use management tools to configure the network nodes, monitor performance, and manage capacity. Traffic can be prioritized by location, by protocol, or by application type. This allows real-time traffic to be given precedence over non-critical traffic.
- Adding control protocols and mechanisms: You can add control protocols and mechanisms that help avoid or alleviate the problems inherent in IP networks. Protocols like Real Time Protocol and Resources Reservation Protocol can provide greater assurances of controlled QoS within the network.
Intrusion Detection Systems.
Intrusion Detection is the process of monitoring computers or networks for unauthorized entry points, suspicious activity, or unauthorized file modification. Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is becoming an important part of network security. These systems complement firewalls and are used to detect attempted network attacks (such as a Denial of Service attack), and misuse of network resources.
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IDS can alert the administrator
about such intrusions and it also has mechanisms / processes
for reacting to such intrusions and protecting the targeted
system. IDS tools thus form an integral part of a thorough
and complete security system. However, IDS by itself
cannot guarantee complete security. IDS can greatly
enhance security when backed by a security policy and
when used in conjunction with vulnerability assessments,
data encryption, user authentication, access control
and fire walls.
There are two types
of IDS : host-based and network-based. Each has its
own method of monitoring and securing data, and each
has its pros and cons. Briefly, a host-based IDS examines
data held on individual computers that serve as hosts;
a network-based IDS examines data exchanged between
computers, i.e. data in transit.
For security solutions, email :
esbmarketing@sifycorp.com
| What IDS Can Do? |
| * Increase the overall
security of the network environment.
* Monitor the network traffic
inside your firewalls.
* Examine the contents of network
messages, thus detecting for example “buffer
overflow” types of attacks.
* Recognize and
report changes to files and directories.
* Detect irregular access times.
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