Network Security Best Practices

If the early days of the Internet were the Wild West days, the current explosion of spyware, viruses, and phishing must make this era the Al Capone days. Never have more criminals been plying their trade on the Internet and World Wide Web than today. Except, perhaps, tomorrow. And the next day.

Don't take my word for this lawlessness; look at your own network. If that doesn't convince you, check out the March 2006 version of Symantec's twice annual Internet Security Threat Report . They are the ones with millions of log files full of evidence that criminal hackers have invaded the Internet in large numbers and aggressively seek to invade your company's network.

Don't think small companies are the only ones making security mistakes. Doing Network World Technology Tours on Remote Office Networking in 2004 and 2005, I talked with many enterprise network managers. By hiding the names of the stupid, I'm able to report Embarrassing Security Secrets .

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

If the early days of the Internet were the Wild West days, the current explosion of spyware, viruses, and phishing must make this era the Al Capone days. Never have more criminals been plying their trade on the Internet and World Wide Web than today. Except, perhaps, tomorrow. And the next day.

Don't take my word for this lawlessness; look at your own network. If that doesn't convince you, check out the March 2006 version of Symantec's twice annual Internet Security Threat Report . They are the ones with millions of log files full of evidence that criminal hackers have invaded the Internet in large numbers and aggressively seek to invade your company's network.

Don't think small companies are the only ones making security mistakes. Doing Network World Technology Tours on Remote Office Networking in 2004 and 2005, I talked with many enterprise network managers. By hiding the names of the stupid, I'm able to report Embarrassing Security Secrets .

Spam and Spyware

Remember the good old days, when the only problem was a few too many spam messages in your inbox? And you muttered angrily as you spent 12 seconds deleting those messages?

For our Network Life online magazine, I wrote 10 Ways to Stop Spyware back in 2005. Late in the year and early in 2006, some online listings reminded people of this story and it was one of Network World's Top 10 stories for several weeks. This piece's popularity just reminds me how aggravating spyware remains to most computer users.

One of the sponsor's of the Network World Small Business Technology tour, Barracuda makes a dedicated hardware appliance that deals with spam of all kinds in a variety of ways. Barracuda Boxes Spam discusses how they handle spam, why their approach works so well, and how even small companies save money buying an appliance like this.

Security Appliances

Barracuda's spam box can't be called a security appliance in the traditional sense, even though reducing spam (and the viruses and phishing scams carried within) certainly improves security. Most people consider a security device one that blocks outsiders, and there are plenty of those (both appliances and outsiders attacking your network).

Check Point makes a wide range of security appliances for companies from tiny to fairly large. I reviewed Check Point's Safe@Office 225 and found it to be a good step up for small companies moving from SOHO (Small Office Home Office) consumer-type firewalls to a more complex but competent security appliance.

One of Check Point's competitors, WatchGuard, ships a product line that compares well with Check Point and all appliance vendors catching the "upgrade from your first firewall" wave of companies. I examine the WatchGuard product's good and bad points in Another Wireless Firewall Router .

Passwords

Access to networks and the resources therein require some type of authentication. For most companies, that means a username and a password. For far too many of those companies, that means a username and a weak, nearly useless password.