Identifying vulnerabilities
One of the roles of a network administratorAlso known as network manager. A person with the responsibility of managing and maintaining the network within an organisation. is to ensure the networkA group of interconnected computers/devices. is safe from attacks and threats of any kind. There are many techniques that can be used to help keep a network safe, including:
- penetration testing
- ethical hackingGaining unauthorised access to a computer.
- commercial analysis tools
- network and user policies
Penetration testing
The purpose of penetration testing is to determine how resilientAble to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. a network is against an attack. It involves authorised users - sometimes an external party or organisation - who probe the network for potential weaknesses and attempt to exploit them. softwareThe programs, applications and data in a computer system. Any parts of a computer system that aren't physical. that enables network managers to test a network's resilience themselves is also available.
Ethical hacking
Ethical hackers attempt to access a network using the same tools and techniques as a hacker. However, an ethical hacker isn鈥檛 attempting to steal information, but is looking for weaknesses in the security of the network. Any weaknesses found can then be fixed. An ethical hacker might be employed by the business that owns the network being tested or they might work for a security company hired by network owners.
Commercial analysis tools
A commercial analysis tool is usually a software package that is used to find security weaknesses within a network. The analysis tool could check for a range of issues such as unpatched software, weak passwords or poorly configured firewallAn application that prevents unauthorised connections to and from the Internet.. The software produces a report so that the network manager can fix the problems.
Network and user policies
Users of a network are often the source of threats, whether accidental or deliberate. A network manager should have network and user policies that ensure:
- users have secure, hard-to-guess passwords which meet specified conditions and are changed regularly
- users cannot connect unauthorised equipment to the network, such as USB memory stickA physically small storage device. It normally plugs into a USB port. They are also called USB sticks, memory sticks, thumb or flash drives. These devices use solid state memory with no moving parts., smartphoneA mobile phone with a powerful processor that is capable of running applications and accessing the internet. and tabletA computer device a little smaller than a laptop but with a built-in touchscreen, usually without a keyboard.
- levels of access are given which allow only authorised users to access sensitive dataUnits of information. In computing there can be different data types, including integers, characters and Boolean. Data is often acted on by instructions.
- a regular backupA copy of important files that is kept separately in case the original files are lost or damaged. procedure is in place
- a disaster recoveryThe process of getting lost or damaged files from a backup. procedure exists in case of data loss
- regular maintenance is undertaken, including applying software upgrades and security patchAn update to a piece of software, usually to fix bugs or improve the software in some way. to equipment
- physical access to servers is prevented
- a high level of security is maintained with up-to-date anti-virusAnti-virus software scans all forms of storage devices for viruses (programs harmful to computers) and, if found, attempts to remove them. software and firewalls