I have been writing many essays as part of of the security class I am taking at DeVry. I thought I would share my essays for all to read.

Computers and networks have become an essential asset to many of the businesses in the world today. Customer, financial, stock, corporate and proprietary information that used to be limited to a few individuals can be accessed by many people. The people that have access to the data can have the proper clearance to view it while others may not. There is an inherent risk with having computers and network handle the countless tasks and transactions they do on a daily basis. These risks include operating system exploits, attacks, hacks and other security breaches. This is why it is imperative to secure all computers running Windows, UNIX and Mac operating systems from vulnerabilities and shortcomings ( (Conklin, White, Williams, Davis, & Cothren, 2010, p. 177).

Like any other piece of software the Operating system can have bugs, vulnerabilities and other shortcomings. These problems may or may not be found during the software development or testing phases. As the software is released for use vendors like Microsoft, Mac, and Debian use the feedback from their users in the form of community forums, technical support hotlines and troubleshooting assistant software to help notify the companies of these problems to be fixed and for patches likes Windows Update or Software updates to be sent to the users (Wikipedia, 2014).

It is important to keep up to date with the software updates and security patches on all of the computer and network devices.  Known vulnerabilities have been known to cause data breaches and can cause loss of money, proprietary information and possible legal actions due to negligence. Hackers can exploit these known and unknown vulnerabilities for their own purposes such as extortion, greed, fun, or even corporate espionage.

Keeping the computer and network devices up to date with patches and security updates is relatively easy with the way the software running on the computer is programmed down to the way the operating systems work. For example, Microsoft has Microsoft ^tm Update which updates all Microsoft products from Windows to Microsoft Office. The configuration is simple and is automatic to run on the computers (Wikipedia, Windows Update, 2014). On the Unix/Linux environment many distributions offer the same functionality through the package manager that the distribution uses. Creating a script can automatic the process of getting the updates installed so that the known vulnerabilities can be fixed.

Other ways of preventing the company’s assets from being attacked or exploited for nefarious reasons is ensure that network firewalls, intrusion detection/protection devices are installed and kept up to date like the all of the servers. Firewalls are a great asset in the network. They can be configured to block traffic between guest networks and the corporate network and helps filter traffic from the internet to accessing the public servers which are running the most up to date of the server operating systems and software/security patches (Cisco Systems, 2014).   Intrusion detection and prevention devices monitor network traffic and see’s if the traffic matches the patterns of known attacks and exploits. The device can then notify the security staff and if configured can  stop the attack as it is happening to help minimize the risk of valuable data being taken or the network from being attacked and shutdown (Wikipedia, 2014).

Lastly, the most important security measure we can implement would have the correct security policies, procedures and record keeping practices. By creating security policies and procedures as normal Standard Operating Procedure, we can limit which users have access to what network and operating system resource, delegate responsibilities and have correct documentation so that there accountability can be properly tracked and in the event of a security breach or network attack security personal can know where to look to help mitigate the threat and resume the standard operation of the computers and network devices.

In summary, it is essential that all computer and network devices are properly patched for the safety and security of the company. Patches can help reduce the risk of internal and external attacks/exploits. By properly installing firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention devices in addition to having a properly formulated SOP regarding security policies, procedures and record keeping to help in the event of an attack or intrusion to help mitigate the risk and stop the threats as quickly as possible.

Bibliography

Cisco Systems. (2014, July 19). Benefits of Firewalls. Retrieved from Cisco.com: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/firewalls/index.html#~three

Conklin, W. A., White, G., Williams, D., Davis, R., & Cothren, C. (2010). Principles of Computer Security CompTIA Security+ and Beyond 2nd eddition. New York: McGraw Hill.

Wikipedia. (2014, June 16). Intrustion Prevention System. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusion_prevention_system

Wikipedia. (2014, July 8). Patch (computing). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_(computing)

Wikipedia. (2014, July 19). Windows Update. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Update