Will your network pass a security audit?

Written by Michael Bruck


It is a well-known fact that inrepparttar Internet-connected world network perimeter vulnerabilities do exist that allow unauthorized individuals access to networks and providerepparttar 132121 ability to disrupt business continuance. Well-prepared companies do know about many of these vulnerabilities and they correct them whenever appropriate. However, there are a large number of new, as well as older vulnerabilities thatrepparttar 132122 average company is just not aware of. If these vulnerabilities are known, companies usually, and I emphasize usually, allocate resources to them. Unfortunately, too many companies either do not haverepparttar 132123 resources to track such security-related matters or do not haverepparttar 132124 trained internal personnel to allocate towards identifying and remediatingrepparttar 132125 vulnerabilities. Obviously knowing about or being able to detectrepparttar 132126 vulnerabilities is halfrepparttar 132127 battle, but not acting onrepparttar 132128 known issues for any reason is almost a guarantee to loserepparttar 132129 battle.

An alarming fact is that many companies do not prioritize information security because it does not generate revenue forrepparttar 132130 company. However, as we have seen inrepparttar 132131 headlines and trade journals,repparttar 132132 lack of a proper security program can and does affectrepparttar 132133 bottom line. Some organizations are now investing larger budget dollars and resources into information security, and they’re starting by assessing their present level of risk with an audit. If your company relies onrepparttar 132134 Internet and was one of vast number that missedrepparttar 132135 vulnerability used byrepparttar 132136 Code Red virus, you know howrepparttar 132137 lack of an active security program can affectrepparttar 132138 bottom line. In addition to unknown vulnerabilities, there are many stories of technicians performing routine network maintenance and unintentionally leaving credit card database or other proprietary information open for would be hackers. Findingrepparttar 132139 vulnerabilities in your environment is vital torepparttar 132140 success of your security program, but knowing how to prioritize and perform proper remediation is often impossible without properly trained personnel. Lets concentrate onrepparttar 132141 value ofrepparttar 132142 audit process and deliverables for a moment.

Whenever we think of audits,repparttar 132143 first thing that comes to mind isrepparttar 132144 financially related IRS visit. They are looking for holes inrepparttar 132145 integrity of income and expense reporting for individuals and companies. These audits are required because ifrepparttar 132146 system, in this caserepparttar 132147 tax system, has enough vulnerabilities, thenrepparttar 132148 whole system fails. The audit acts asrepparttar 132149 police to either deterrepparttar 132150 vulnerabilities or find them so they can be eventually removed. Removing vulnerabilities in your information network is just as key, but can you find them, which are important, and how do you remove them efficiently. Much likerepparttar 132151 IRS audits, finding information network security vulnerabilities requires a trained professional. Most commonly,repparttar 132152 security professionals trained in auditing are full time in-house employees of onlyrepparttar 132153 largest companies. Forrepparttar 132154 majority of companies who want thorough periodic audits, this requiresrepparttar 132155 use of outside security experts asrepparttar 132156 most cost-effective choice. Outsourcing to security professionals offers many advantages over in-house testing, such as having a team of experts dedicated to current security matters, armed with proven best practices or entire methodologies, and equipped with a suite of security auditing products instead of a single commercial tool.

Who's watching you?

Written by Dale Sexton


How many business owners use DSL, cable or other fast modem hookup to get onrepparttar internet? I use a 56k modem myself, but because I test most of my programming online, I am on 10 to 16 hours a day.

Hackers like to get into sites that are online allrepparttar 132120 time. If you have a super fast modem like DSL orrepparttar 132121 like, and you leave your computer on, your online. Hackers like to get into your computer, get your financial information, plant programs to hack into other sites without a trace, or just wreck havoc on your computer.

Here is another scenario, Do you use programs like Netscape, Go!zilla, or Real Player? Did you know that they contain programming to send information from your computer to their server? These are notrepparttar 132122 only programs with spyware built in. So I've been told, they can send every program you've downloaded and what address you got it from.

Believe what you wish, but I believe that anything can happen. What can we do to prevent any ofrepparttar 132123 above or worse from happening? I've been studying this.

Let's look at some sites that rummage through your computer and show you what they see. What we are going to learn is how vulnerable we are.

http://www.secure-me.net/secureme_go http://grc.com http://www.sdesign.com/securitytest/index.html http://www.hackerwhacker.com/

After these sites have ransacked your computer, let's see what we can do to prevent it from happening again. A good fire wall will be a good start. The fire wall I prefer is ZoneAlarm from ZoneLabs. These fire walls are free torepparttar 132124 public, although if used for business, they ask for a small payment. The average prices I've seen are around $20, but compare for yourself.

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