Task Overview
Basics Task 1: [inTroducTion To neTwork securiTy]
Introduction:
Greetings, inhabitants of cyberspace security! In the present day, this
networked world has seemingly made it imperative that individuals or
institutions appreciate and put in to practice very elementary ways and
means of safety from different kinds of dangers that could ever be
encountered within the net. Be it an individual or a small business, there is
always need to have a safe network more so in cases where the network is
used in handling sensitive data that needs protection as well as the data
integrity . In this assignment, we will cover the definition and the importance
of network security and the potential threats that may lead to its compromise.
We will also outline some measures that can be used to mitigate introduction
of such risks and reduce their effects.
Upon completion of this task, basic principles and concepts of network
security such as identification of threats and securing a small network using
the acceptable standards will have been covered. This will enable you to not
only keep your network safe, but also to understand the more complex areas
of network security.
In this way, we can proceed on our task of deepening our understanding of
how to properly secure networks starting from the identification of threats to
their management for our own safety. And with enough work and proper
security practices in place, the Internet can be safe for us and everyone else
that we care about.
The concept of network security must be understood as it relates to data
protection, integrity and availability of network resources. Below is a brief
definition of some common network threats and some elementary security
solutions.
Network Threats
1) Malware – A form of software that influences illegal access to networks
such as trojan horses, spyware and other malicious codes.
2) Phishing – An act of social engineering that focuses on fooling users into
providing personally identifiable information in an effort to abuse it. This is
done mainly via fake emails and websites.
3) DDoS Attacks – A distributed denial of service attack normally floods a
network or server with too much traffic rendering it unavailable to legitimate
users.
4) Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks – Involves secretly listening in and or
tampering with the conversation between two parties.
5) Unauthorized access – This involves efforts to gain entry into a network or
system without permission as such acts may lead to data loss or corruption.
6) Insider Threats – These are threats emanating from inside the company
whether intentional or unregulated.
Basic Security Measures
1) Firewalls – A firewall serves to monitor and control the incoming and
outgoing network traffic based on the predetermined security policy of the
organization.
2) Antivirus – The implementation of antivirus helps prevent the intrusion of
viruses, worms, malware, and trojan horses into the organization's
cyberspace.
3) Regular Software Updates – The operable systems and the applications
installed in the systems are vigorously needed to be updated against the
weaknesses present.
4) Secure Password Practices – Strong Password policies that incorporate
complexity and heighten frequencies of password change assist in mitigating
unauthorized logins.
5) Network Segmentation – Alleviating the potential damage in case of a
successful attack, and improving the security management as well.
6) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) – A VPN is a tool that protects the
connection of remote users to the information system by encrypting all, or
selected, data that goes over the web.
7)User Education – Providing training on issues such as phishing and related
threats, along with encouraging users to observe safe browsing behavior,
would yield a great decrease in the level of risk present.
8)Backup Solutions – Having a plan in place for the backward coping of any
data such backups being done frequently creates assurance that information
will not be lost mostly to software like ransomware.
Tools and methods:
Firewall (Windows Defender Firewall or a basic hardware firewall),
Wireshark.
Steps taken to complete the task:
1.Type 'ifconfig' and click enter key. This should display your Kali ip
address.
2.Launch wireshark on your host system, configure to capture traffic based
on your network connections.
3.Visit http://testphp.vulnweb.com/ login page in your Kali Linux.
4.the username is “Sriram” and the password is “21345” and Login with the
credential, Capture the traffic using your wireshark. Filter for 'http' and find
post request, Right click on post request and follow the tcp stream.You
should clearly see the credentials you entered on the login page you visited in
your Kali.
This is visible because http protocol is unsecured.
5.To implement security measures using window Firewall on host system.
Click on window firewall icon goto- advanced setting- Inbound Rules, Click on
new ruleSelect 'custom' from rule, typeClick on 'Scope' You have local and
remote ip address sections. Set rule on local ip address Input your desired
device ip address which you intend to block it access to your local network.
6.Click on block the connection.
7.Input name (login) to identify the rule you just created, Click finish. Your
window firewall will block the device ip address you provided preventing
access to your network.
Conclusion:
In today’s world, practicing network security in every endeavor is paramount
as it helps one to safeguard their private data from being misused by malicious
individuals. Appropriately, it is possible to mitigate and even erase chances of
unauthorized access to information or impersonation by using rudimentary
solutions such as strong authentication, firewalls, and locked networks
especially known as WPA3 for Wi-Fi connection. Hence, encouraging others to
adopt such practices increases the rates of internet security. Of utmost
importance is the need to be active and offensive at all times, as there will
always be threats in the domain, that aim to violate the privacy of individual,
utopian cyberspace interactions. Tsiatsos, Vasilakos, & Symeonidis (2017)
underscore that, network security is not the concern only of IT managers but
rather everyone in the modern society should have basic knowledge of it. To
this end, cybercriminals have been known to utilize various strategies ranging
from fake websites to spear phishing and online harassment to compromise a
person or service for the purpose of gaining unauthorized access or even
overthrowing it. Good habits of network security such as updating programs,
using hard to guess passwords, and keeping away from link which looks fishy
helps in the protection of both work and personal information. Safeguarding
the network comprises of implementing such protective security measures as
placing a firewall and encryption so that the information traversing the network
is kept safe. Education and awareness are also significant in combating these
cyber dangers thereby contributing to a safer experience for all web users.
