Network Attacks and Its Different Approaches

What is a Network Attack?

Network security solutions are of key importance in today’s volatile and uncertain technology landscape. A network attack is an effort to gain unlawful access to company’s network, with the object of pilfering data or carrying out other malicious activity. In a network attack, cybercriminals are engaged in penetrating the corporate network limit and gaining access to internal systems. Quite frequently, threat actors combine other types of attacks, such as impacting an endpoint, disseminating malware or abusing a fault in a system within the network.

Approaches of Network Security

Several methods to network security are available for companies to choose from. A specific technique, or model, influences all resulting security decisions and set the tone for the entire organization’s network security arrangement. Network security models can be categorized by either the scope of security actions taken (perimeter, layered) or how hands-on the system is.

Perimeter Security Approach

In this type of approach, the chunk of security attempts is focused on the limit of the network. This might comprise firewalls, proxy servers, password policies, and any technology or process that makes unlawful access of the network less probable. Practically no effort is made to protect the systems within the network. While the perimeter is protected in this method, the several systems within that perimeter are often susceptible.

Although this perimeter method is clearly faulty, some small companies still use it due to budget constraints or inexperienced network administrators.

Layered Security Approach

In this approach, the perimeter is not only protected, but separate systems within the network are also safe. One way to achieve this is to split the network into sections and protect each piece as if it were a discrete network so that, if perimeter security is affected, all internal systems are not compromised. Layered security is the favored approach whenever likely.

Your security approach should also be measured by how proactive and/or reactive it is. This can be done by finding out how much of the system’s security setup and policies are devoted to protective measures versus how much are dedicated to simply responding to an attack after it has happened.

Hybrid Security Approach

Network security is seldom complete in one model or another in the real world. Networks usually fall along a range with essentials of more than one security model. The two types also combine to form a hybrid method; one can have a network that is typically passive but layered, or one that is primarily perimeter, but hands-on. Taking into account approaches to computer security along a Cartesian coordinate system, with the X axis symbolizing the level of passive-active methods and the Y axis portraying the range from perimeter to layered defence, can be useful.