Network security is a crucial to all networks, but some people do not know truly know how important this concept is. There are a variety of threats and reasons why people should know about network security threats.
The most important reason to understand network security is because the attack can lead to identity theft. This is something that has been stressed so much, but many people still fail to take heed to it. Wireless networks, for example, are often left open in home environments with no security encryption. Unsecured networks can be hacked into easily, and hackers can do lots of things in short amounts of time. A hacker can search the hard drive of the average PC user in less than a minute. In this short time period a search can be conducted on spread sheets or databases that contain user names and passwords.
It’s a serious security threat that can be prevented with a couple of simple security features. It’s important to have even more security in place, however, to protect yourself from advanced hackers. People never know who their neighbors are, and this is why a security threat should not be taken lightly.
It doesn’t take much for hackers to also get into the network and use packet tracers. This is much more intrusive than the basic one time hack. Packet tracers can allow hackers to obtain information simply from an IP address. This is common for traces that follow the IP address of a machine as it surfs the internet. Packet tracing can give hackers account information that may appear to be hidden from the standpoint of the PC user. This is not a complicated process, and it is very common in many identity theft cases. Individuals that maintain home networks should consider options that include hiding IP addresses, turning on firewalls, and blocking incoming network connections from unknown host devices. These are all ways for users to protect themselves from the inevitable threats that can occur if they leave their workstations unprotected.
No one should assume that a network is secure and locked down just because virus software is installed. Virus and malware software is important tools to have, but real security requires much more than that. The virus software is great for attacking viruses that are seen, but many of the real dangers in network security threats are unseen. It doesn’t take much for hackers to utilize packet sniffers and a few hijacked pages encountered during web surfing to break down a network. Preventive maintenance is the best defense.