The Security
Better Security &
 Security Risk

Step4                                                        Step 5

Protect Your Network
Remote access to your network may be a business necessity, but it is also a security risk you need to monitor closely. Use strong passwords and be especially cautious about wireless networks. Nobody likes to think the worst—that around every corner someone is snooping into your business affairs. But if your company operates either a wired or wireless network and has information that you would like to keep confidential, a little paranoia will serve you well.

Basic Steps You Can Take
Here are four basic measures that can help reduce your network security fears. 

Set up firewalls
A firewall controls access to and from your network or computer, blocking intruders from accessing your private network and controlling what your employees can access outside your network. Perimeter firewalls protect all the computers on your network. They also offer an additional layer of defense because they can effectively make all your network computers “invisible” to the outside world. 

Use strong passwords
Most small businesses use passwords to authenticate identity, whether on computers, cash registers, or alarm systems. Although more sophisticated authentication systems exist, such as smart cards and fingerprint or iris scans, passwords are most common because they are easy to use. Unfortunately, they are also easily misused. Hackers have automated tools that help them crack simple passwords in minutes. Crooks may also use fraud to get employees to divulge passwords. Too often, passwords are not effective for these reasons: 

• Sensitive documents have not been password protected, allowing anyone to walk up to an unsecured computer and log on.

• Passwords are weak or are never changed.

• Passwords are written down in plain sight. 

Educating your staff about the importance of passwords is the first step in making passwords a valuable network security tool. Employees should regard their passwords the same way they would an office key. In other words, don’t leave it lying around and don’t share it. Employees should also avoid weak and easy-to-guess passwords that include the following:

• Their real name, username, or company name 

• A common dictionary word that makes them vulnerable to “dictionary attacks,” in which a program attempts to use words found in a dictionary to log on to a system

 • Common passwords, such as “password,” “letmein,” or “1234”

 • Commonly known letter substitutions, such as replacing “i” with “!” or “s” with “$”

 • A password that someone else knows

 • Using no password at all, which makes it easy for other employees to just walk up to an unsecured computer and log on

 • Any password that they write down What does a strong password look like? It should have the following characteristics:

 • Be at least eight characters long (the longer, the better)

 • Have a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols

 • Be changed at least every 90 days and, when changed, should be significantly different from previous passwords

 Of course, a password you can’t remember is no use at all. There are some tricks that can make strong passwords more memorable:

 • In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, you can use a pass phrase such as “I had 5 chicken tacos for lunch.”

 • You could also pick a phrase, then use only the first character of every word, such as Msi5Yold! (My Son is 5 years old!).

 • Another trick is to take short, simple words and join them together with numbers and symbols (for example, Tree+34+Pond).

Use wireless security features
Wireless networks use a radio link instead of cables to connect computers. As a result, anyone within radio range can theoretically listen in or transmit data on the network. Freely available tools allow intruders to “sniff” for insecure networks. While vulnerability increases with a wireless network, computer-savvy crooks have tools to help them break into all types of computer systems.

 Security features are built into Wi-Fi products, but manufacturers often turn the features off by default to make network setup easier. If you use wireless networking, make sure you turn the security features on and use the security and access features that will make your network more secure. Also consider these tips

 • Restrict wireless access (if your wireless network provides this feature) to office hours or whenever you expect to use the network.

 • Filter out casual intruders by setting access points to restrict network access to specific computers.

• Use the encryption built into your wireless access point to encode information as it travels across the network and prevent any non-authorized party from reading or changing data. Close unnecessary network ports

Network traffic for various applications are identified using numbered ports. In order for an application’s traffic to get through a firewall, the firewall must allow traffic on that port. To strengthen your network’s security against unauthorized access, close unused or unnecessary ports by using perimeter firewalls, local firewalls, or Internet Protocol Security (IP Sec) filters. But a word of caution: Microsoft server products use a variety of numbered network ports and protocols to communicate with client and server systems. Blocking ports that the Microsoft Windows Server System™ uses may prevent a server from responding to legitimate client requests, which could mean the server won’t function properly, if at all.

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