What refers to a separate network that rests outside of a companys secure network?
Firewalls can either be software or hardware, though it’s best to have both. A software firewall is a program installed on each computer and regulates traffic through port numbers and applications, while a physical firewall is a piece of equipment installed between your network and gateway. Show
Packet-filtering firewalls, the most common type of firewall, examine packets and prohibit them from passing through if they don’t match an established security rule set. This type of firewall checks the packet’s source and destination IP addresses. If packets match those of an “allowed” rule on the firewall, then it is trusted to enter the network. Packet-filtering firewalls are divided into two categories: stateful and stateless. Stateless firewalls examine packets independently of one another and lack context, making them easy targets for hackers. In contrast, stateful firewalls remember information about previously passed packets and are considered much more secure. While packet-filtering firewalls can be effective, they ultimately provide very basic protection and can be very limited—for example, they can't determine if the contents of the request that's being sent will adversely affect the application it's reaching. If a malicious request that was allowed from a trusted source address would result in, say, the deletion of a database, the firewall would have no way of knowing that. Next-generation firewalls and proxy firewalls are more equipped to detect such threats. Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) combine traditional firewall technology with additional functionality, such as encrypted traffic inspection, intrusion prevention systems, anti-virus, and more. Most notably, it includes deep packet inspection (DPI). While basic firewalls only look at packet headers, deep packet inspection examines the data within the packet itself, enabling users to more effectively identify, categorize, or stop packets with malicious data. Learn about Forcepoint NGFW here. Proxy firewalls filter network traffic at the application level. Unlike basic firewalls, the proxy acts an intermediary between two end systems. The client must send a request to the firewall, where it is then evaluated against a set of security rules and then permitted or blocked. Most notably, proxy firewalls monitor traffic for layer 7 protocols such as HTTP and FTP, and use both stateful and deep packet inspection to detect malicious traffic. Network address translation (NAT) firewalls allow multiple devices with independent network addresses to connect to the internet using a single IP address, keeping individual IP addresses hidden. As a result, attackers scanning a network for IP addresses can't capture specific details, providing greater security against attacks. NAT firewalls are similar to proxy firewalls in that they act as an intermediary between a group of computers and outside traffic. Stateful multilayer inspection (SMLI) firewalls filter packets at the network, transport, and application layers, comparing them against known trusted packets. Like NGFW firewalls, SMLI also examine the entire packet and only allow them to pass if they pass each layer individually. These firewalls examine packets to determine the state of the communication (thus the name) to ensure all initiated communication is only taking place with trusted sources. What is Systems Hardening?Systems hardening is a collection of tools, techniques, and best practices to reduce vulnerability in technology applications, systems, infrastructure, firmware, and other areas. The goal of systems hardening is to reduce security risk by eliminating potential attack vector s and condensing the system’s attack surface. By removing superfluous programs, accounts functions, applications, ports, permissions, access, etc. attackers and malware have fewer opportunities to gain a foothold within your IT ecosystem. Systems hardening demands a methodical approach to audit, identify, close, and control potential security vulnerabilities throughout your organization. There are several types of system hardening activities, including:
Although the principles of system hardening are universal, specific tools and techniques do vary depending on the type of hardening you are carrying out. System hardening is needed throughout the lifecycle of technology, from initial installation, through configuration, maintenance, and support, to end-of-life decommissioning. Systems hardening is also a requirement of mandates such as PCI DSS and HIPAA, and is increasingly demanded by cyber insurers.
How do you Harden a System?You harden a system by reducing the “attack surface,” the combination of all the potential flaws and backdoors in technology can be exploited by threat actors. These vulnerabilities can occur in many ways. Common attack surface vulnerabilities include:
Additionally, the Center for Internet Security (CIS) maintains updated guidelines on their site around best practice system configurations for specific use cases. The CIS Benchmarks include over 100 guidelines across 25 vendor product families (Amazon Linux, Amazon AWS, Apple iOS, Apple macOS, Checkpoint Firewall, Cisco, Docker, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, etc.). 10 Best Practices for Systems HardeningThe type of hardening you carry out depends on the risks in your existing technology, the resources you have available, and the priority for making fixes.
Benefits of Systems HardeningSystems hardening requires continuous effort, but the diligence will pay off in substantive ways across your organization via:
Which of the following is a network device that helps evenly distribute the flow of network traffic to other network devices?Need for a router:
The router is one of the integral parts of a computing system. It works to manage traffic between networks by forwarding data packets to the IP address designated to them and also allowing multiple devices to use the same internet connection as well.
Which special network area is used to provide added protection by isolating publicly accessible servers?A demilitarized zone (DMZ) is an area of the network where extra security is placed to protect the internal network from publicly accessible servers like web servers and email servers.
Which device combines multiple security features?UTM systems combine multiple security features into a single device or software program. This can help because there are five primary kinds of threats that organizations need to protect against: malware. phishing and social engineering.
Which of the following can serve as a buffer zone between a private secure network and an untrusted network?EXPLANATION A DMZ, or demilitarized zone, is a network placed between a private secured network and the untrusted internet to grant external users access to internally controlled services. The DMZ serves as a buffer network.
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