Essential tools for network security

You can compare modern packet sniffing to wiretapping a telephone network. Law enforcement agencies may use wiretaps to help catch a criminal, or a criminal may use a wiretap to spy on his victims before breaking in.

Packet sniffing tools work in the same way. A hacker can use packet sniffing tools to gather information illegally about the networks they plan to infiltrate. Packet sniffers can detect passwords, IP addresses, protocols being used on the network and other information that will help the attacker infiltrate the network.

An IT professional can use a packet sniffer to analyze the traffic on their own network and spot malicious activity. Antivirus Software: Antivirus software is a program or service that is designed to prevent, search for, detect and ultimately remove malicious software viruses from your device such as worms, trojans, adware, and more. Antivirus software is absolutely essential for any devices on your network connected to the internet.

Without antivirus software protection your device can be infected within seconds of connecting to the internet and proceed to spread that infection to all the other devices on your network. Antivirus software manufacturers must update their detection tools regularly to deal with the more than 60, new pieces of malware created daily. Once a virus attaches itself to your computer it can do all kinds of damage without you even knowing.

This can prevent you from accessing necessary data, take control of your computer and even wipe files from your computer forever. This is why it is so necessary to have strong up-to-date antivirus software on all your devices. Firewalls: A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic on your network. It does this based on predetermined security rules set when you first install the firewall.

A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted internal network and an untrusted external network, such as the Internet. A firewall can block malicious traffic from entering your network while allowing harmless traffic to come through. Firewalls have been used as the first line of defense on computer networks for more than 25 years. A firewall can be a physical device connected to your network, a software, or both.

Every network should have at least one firewall attached to it. To see if your email address has been compromised in a data breach or other security incident, we recommend visiting haveibeenpwned. If you register a domain with Haveibeenpwned you will receive an email alerting you if your domain has been compromised.

DNSTwist is another free program that allows you to detect phishing, typosquatters, and attack domains that are based on an inputted domain. If you are a site owner or in charge of your company's domain management and brand safety, this tool can be of great use in seeing sites that are trying to harm others by pretending to be your brand.

WireGuard is a free open-source software VPN tool we recommend. This number is expected to grow as businesses around the world rapidly transform their workforce into remote workers. WireGuard creates secure point-to-point connections in routed or bridged configurations. Nessus is an open-source vulnerability scanner application developed by Tenable. Nessus uses a robust scanning engine along with external modular plugins that form their expansive vulnerability-scan database.

A community of Nessus developers monitors, maintains and updates their library of available plugins on their site. If someone in your organization has any experience programming, they can also write a custom vulnerability plugin for Nessus. Nessus can scan for vulnerabilities that could allow unauthorized control or access to sensitive data on a system, misconfiguration in the form of open mail relays and missing patches, default passwords or absent passwords, and most importantly, denial of service vulnerabilities.

It is important to remember that Nessus can only scan for and alert you to vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. Nessus cannot patch or fix these vulnerabilities - it is up to the IT department or the system administrators to create a security fix.

Firewall is an important security tool for an organization, as it helps to protect against malware, unauthorized logins, and other security threats. The advanced firewall can do a deep inspection, application filtering, intrusion detection, and prevention of network.

The device also performs the function of intrusion detection systems IDSs that is used to scan networks and report on potential threats.

It is important to an organization because through an IPS deep analysis on network traffic is done to identify threats. The Endpoint protection tools are used to protect desktops, laptops and other endpoint devices against viruses, malware, worms, and malicious activity. San Jose Office W. Irvine Office MacArthur Blvd.

Suite Irvine, CA Whether we call them hackers, the dark web, or malicious actors, the risk of data breaches and network intrusion by any name is usually summed up by the professionals in the network security field as "not a question of if an attack will occur, but when.

Ask Yourself These Questions. Antivirus software provides protection by scanning computer files and memory to detect patterns or "signatures" that indicate the presence of known malware programs. The keys to optimized antivirus protection are to scan regularly and ensure that the antivirus software is continuously updated.

New and updated malware is identified by antivirus providers on a daily basis, and it is essential to keep antivirus definitions current, so the software can effectively detect, block, and cleanse new forms of malware from the system.

Firewalls enforce access control between networks such as an organization's LAN and the risky environment of the public internet. The firewall functions as the front door security guard , blocking or permitting traffic and even aiding in the apprehension of offenders.

The firewall protects in 3 ways:. Firewalls not only block attacks, but they can alert network administrators when an attack is detected and track the data back to the malicious sender. The usual best practice for firewall setup is to configure it to deny access to all incoming traffic, and then open discriminating incoming traffic gates as required for operations.

By now it is obvious that updating antivirus and security software is critical, but all software updates can optimize performance as well as security. Patches plug holes and security weaknesses discovered in software and operating systems. Hackers are quick to share this information and black hat coders go to work to exploit these specific vulnerabilities.