Today's post is "completely" off topic :-)...however....seeing as I do that every now and then to keep things interesting, here it is:

A few months back I really got sick of my computer always being slow and having system errors. So I started doing a bit of research and heard of a new browser called "Firefox".

After a few months of going through it I started to see a huge difference in my computers performance and as a result in my own productivity online and off. This was a direct result of using Firefox browser. So I then started to learn features that came with it and I realized that this browser had A LOT more features than I had ever seen or used on any other browser. As I started to mention this to my co-workers and friends and family they all got interested in browser and decided to install it on their own systems.

Thats when questions started.

THE DYNAMIC PROCESS OF NETWORK SECURITY by Vlad Sharoiko

Network security is a dynamic process because of new threats and vulnerabilities that are uncovered every day. Your software may be secure today, but intense pace of upgrades will continue to create openings for new issues to arise. According to statistics released by CERT Coordination Center, more than 300 vulnerabilities are reported every month. The process of discovering them, determining potential security risk, and recommending fixes is called a Vulnerability Assessment.

A Network Vulnerability Assessment can:

Identify any potential security breaches a hacker could exploit

Analyze discovered vulnerabilities existing in network

Provide a detailed explanation of recommended fix for each threat

Despite fact that most security measures are put in place to protect a network from malicious outside world, many intrusion attempts are now happening from inside organization. With proliferation of laptops and handhelds, possibility of an internal intrusion has greatly increased. For this reason, a complete assessment should be done with scanners located inside and outside network to determine if potential issues exist in either place.

In addition, reports generated should be structured for 2 levels of review. The Executive Report should represent a high level overview of number of vulnerabilities detected, while IT Department should receive a highly detailed report containing descriptions of each vulnerability and explanations of fixes recommended for each one.

The key features of a Vulnerability Assessment are:

Automated scanning of internal and external network devices Scan schedules customized to times of least activity on network Full SSL support to scan SSLized services such as https, smtps, & imaps  Smart service recognition to detect services moved to non-standard ports Non-destructive scanning to avoid interruption of normal network activity Complete reporting designed for 2 levels of review