Network Security guide for the home or small business network – preface
OK, this is an ambitious idea, but the two articles on Titan Rain and the lack of IT security training has planted a bug under the saddle so to speak…. I don’t know how many parts will be in this series. In fact, I may add to it from time to time even after an initial series. This is intended as a “crash course” in the essentials of network security. It’s aimed at the home users and managers of small networks (small business owners?) that haven’t thought about network security before and maybe will be a reference of some value even to those that are more intermediate. The essentials of network security will be covered in the first few posts.
I don’t guarantee that they’ll come in any particular order though. As most can tell (and the grading on school papers could attest…) I tend to write stream of consciousness, no outlining outside of what’s in my head to pass along. I’ll leave comments open on each item in this series so that if anyone has input for the series they can add in whatever tips/tricks or advice they have. It’s an important topic and I wouldn’t know squat about it if I hadn’t been able to learn from others. I will try to keep things as simple as possible, especially the first few articles, but as we move on there is no way around having to learn new things, new ideas, and have a general idea of “how things work”. No, there’s no need to translate binary to plain text or anything too fancy.
I knew absolutely nothing about network security ~8-9 years ago when I got a cable internet connection. Absolutely nothing. I had previously had a vague idea that Windows file and print sharing over the dialup connection was a bad thing, but didn’t know why or how bad. The point is, I learned. Not long after I got the cable internet connection I got my first computer virus, a network worm. I was puzzled as to HOW it got in the system. I hadn’t clicked on an email attachment. In fact up until then I don’t recall having antivirus on my pc. Shortly the learning process began and I soon had antivirus and a personal firewall (blackice defender way back then), and a lot more to learn.
That network worm is really what kickstarted me into learning about network security and computer security. A topic which I find fascinating today. This is looking like a long series and more indepth than I first thought. It is an issue that needs attention though.