Network Security

Secure network is vitally important for most network systems.Whilst email viruses and denial-of-service attacks (DoS attack) maycause us headaches on our home systems, for businesses, these sorts of attacks can cripple a network for days – costing businesses hundreds of millions each year in lost revenue. Not to mention corporate legitimate to clients.

Creating secure network to prevent this type ofmalicious attack is usually of paramount importance for network administrators, and while most invest heavily in some forms of security measures there is often vulnerabilities inadvertently left exposed. Aswe always heards that security is as secure as the weakest link.

Firewalls are the best place to begin when you are trying to develop a secure network. A firewall can be implemented in either hardware or software, or most commonly a combination of both. Firewalls are used to prevent unauthorized users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially local intranets. All traffic entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified criteria. If the packet do not meet security criteria then the system will not allowed those packets entering network system.

Anti-virus software works in two ways. Firstly it acts similarly to a firewall by blocking anything that is identified in its database as possibly malicious (viruses, Trojans, spyware etc). Secondly Anti-virus software is used to detect, and remove existing malware on a network systems or workstation.

You can build your own firewall by using linux, there is a lot of tutorial and white papers on how to build your simple yet powerful firewall by using open source programs. Many company start their simple security by using linux server as their first line of defense.

One of the most over-looked aspects of secure network is time synchronization. Network administrators either fail to realise the importance of synchronization between all devices on a network or the system simply don’t work. Failing to synchronize a network is often a common security issue. Not only can malicious users take advantage of computers running at different times but if a network is struck by an attack, identifying and rectifying the problem can be near impossible if every device is running on a different time.

Even when a network administrator is aware of the importance of time synchronization they often make a common security mistake when attempting to synchronize their network. Instead of investing in a dedicated time server that receives a secure source of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) externally from their network using atomic clock sources like GPS, some network administrators opt to use a shortcut and use a source of Internet time.

There are two major security issues in using the Internet as a timeserver. Firstly, to allow the time code through the network a UDP port(123) has to be left open in the firewall. This can be taken advantage of by malicious users who can use this open port as an entrance to the network system. Secondly, the inbuilt security measure used by the time protocol NTP, known as authentication, doesn’t work across the Internet which means that NTP has no guarantee the time signal is coming from where it is supposed to.

To ensure that you have a secure network, isn’t it time you invested in an external dedicated NTP time server?

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Many people looking about antivirus reviews as they are many products that compete each other to be the best. Since internet era spreading of a virus become faster and infected PC become much more day after day. So to help these kind a people we made some antivirus reviews so you can choose what best for you.

Well, the basic step for protecting your system is to install an anti-virus that works for your computer system. What do I mean by an antivirus that works for you? Well, everyone visits a different set of websites everyday, has a different system configuration, does different things with his/her PC and keeping all that in mind you need to decide which one works for you. This, I say from personal experience.

If you are yet not sure whether you even need an antivirus : Check this out (Scroll down)

The thing to note is that not every Antivirus is suitable for every system and hence you may need to experiment a bit before you find the perfect one.

I am not going to write paragraphs on this, just the ‘Good’ and the ‘Bad’. ASk if you have doubt.

Note: The software are listed in an alphabetical order and not preferential.

1. AVG Antivirus:

Good: Only antivirus thats free to use and ranks among the best. Eeffective, easy to use and compatible with almost every computer. Try it out ? Sure, its free !

Bad: No tech support to go to if it falters as its free. May skip some of the viruses. Keep a check.

2. Bit Defender:

Good : Has earned good reviews based on its superior performance and cost effectiveness. Pocket-friendly.

Bad : The interface is not that friendly and you may need to dig a lot deeper to find the in-depth reports of your scanned files (which lie in the Antivirus and Updates tabs).

3. Esset NOD32:

Good: An antivirus that is known for its quite simple and user friendly interface, NOD 32 is very simple to use and is usually recommended for beginners. The other advantages of the software include its high detection ratio, no software conflicts and the fact that it won’t drain your system. If you are looking for a fast antivirus, nothing beats the NOD32.

Bad: Slightly on the heavier side in terms of the price.

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