How Security Can Sabotage or Insure Success

Most people do not understand how security really works.

For Network Security, detection is the key as well. If your network is connected to the internet, then a dedicated hacker can break in.

How does network security work? The first line of defense is the firewall, this is like the doors and windows. The firewall can be set-up to block a lot or just a little. But it will always allow what it thinks is “proper” access to the network. The next line of defense is detection. This is like “Crime watch”, which is really just your nosy neighbors. There are several ways to go with this. The most simple is anti-virus software. The good anti-virus plans include an extensive global database of specific types of threats from spam and malware. There is also intrusion detection software that provides deeper layer of inspection of data in the network to stop more intrusions. The 3rd line of defense is data back-up. This is simply making sure that all of your data can be recovered if there is a hardware or infrastructure failure. This is like the “insurance” in the house example. It is not immediate, but it is needed to get your business up and running again.

The next component is the Impact versus Likelihood. It is a graph on the whiteboard going over the threats to the business and then charting how likely they are. The threats come from the audience, but for example, it could be, loss from fire, theft, power outages, etc.