Sep 27 2021
Ways to Improve Internet Speed
A slow-speed internet that makes you wait for ages before you can finally access a webpage is surely quite a pain! It tests your patience to the last limits and doesn’t allow you to complete your work on time. It is equally frustrating for game lovers, who always need an active internet connection to play the games. Alongside this, the slow internet hinders with user’s efficiency to a great deal.
If you are sick and tired of your slow-poke internet, here are a few ways through which you can augment the speed of your internet, easily.
- Restart the Router
This is surely an age-old formula to repair things and works quite well most of the time. If your internet connectivity is getting blocked or the connection gets interrupted quite a lot, you need to try this method for sure. All you need to do is to turn off the switch giving power to the router. Once you turn it on again, it will work well and deliver you with the speed you always wanted
- Use a Cable
Going back to the old typical cable connectivity might help you with your internet speed this time. Yes, you read that right! You may need to take that dangling wire out of your storage box and put it back to work. The speed it delivers will amaze you. This happens because there is no distraction, distortion, or blockade anymore, which might affect the signal strength of the Wi-Fi.
Sep 07 2021
Poisoned proxy PACs! The NPM package with a network-wide security hole
Not long ago, independent software developer Tim Perry, creator of the HTTP Toolkit for intercepting and debugging web traffic…
…decided to add proxy support to his product, which, like lots of software these days, is written using Node.js.
ICYMI, Node.js is the project that took the JavaScript language out of your browser and turned it into a full-blown application development system in its own right, a bit like Java (which is unrelated to JavaScript, by the way, for all that the names sound similar).
As well as the JavaScript core, which uses the V8 JavaScript engine from Google’s Chromium project, Node.js sofware typically also relies on NPM, the Node package manager, and the NPM registry, a truly enormous repository of open-source Node tools and programming libraries.
The NPM registry runs from basic text formatting to full-on facial recognition, and almost everything in between.
Instead of writing all, of the code in your project yourself, or even most of it, you simply reference the add-on packages you want to use, and NPM will fetch them for you, along with any additional packages that your chosen package needs…
…and all the packages that those packages need, following the turtles packages all the way down until every piece of add-on code needed to complete the jigsaw has been located and installed automatically.
Poisoned proxy PACs! The NPM package with a network-wide security hole…
Aug 27 2021
Don’t Leave Security to the Network
Key Strategic Criteria
The solution is, instead, to focus on building applications that are secure by design, with zero-trust security baked-in rather than bolted-on. This is one of the three key strategic criteria we see for forward-looking enterprises that are accelerating the security of their applications.
- Make applications secure by design – zero-trust is now the recommended security model.
- Embrace tools that enable agility and efficiency and eliminate complexity.
- Embrace open source for future-proofing, maximum visibility and to avoid proprietary lock-in.
Integrating security and the WAN is the next wave in network architecture. That means embedding zero-trust and access management capabilities in applications.
Zero-trust, to continue with the sporting event analogy, requires ticket checks before fans reach the stadium; it determines if they are authentic fans and therefore whether they can enter, where they can go once they’re inside the venue and which events they can watch. Zero-trust uses context as well as identity to authenticate users, and it enables policies that permit access only within a certain time window, a particular network segment or to a specific application. It removes the element of implicit trust that is so easily exploited, whether deliberately by bad actors or accidentally by careless users.
Zero-Trust Network Security
Zero Trust Networks: Building Secure Systems in Untrusted Networks
Aug 10 2021
Home and small business routers under attack – how to see if you are at risk
Evan Grant, a researcher at network security scanning company Tenable, recently decided to have a go at hacking a home router.
The idea, it seems, was more to learn about the general techniques, tools and procedures available to router hackers than to conduct a security assessment of any particular product.
Understandably, therefore, Grant picked a router model using two non-technical criteria: was it popular, and was it available in Canada (Grant’s home country)?
After opening up the router casing to get access to the circuit board, Grant made good progress, by quickly:
- Finding likely pins on the circuit board where a debugging device could be connected.
- Identifying the correct wiring for the debugging circuity to permit a serial connection.
- Getting a root shell via a serial line and accessing the files on the device.
Grant’s first stop was to download a binary file (executable program) called httpd, which is the name under which you typically find a home or small business router’s web server, used for managing the device from a browser.
The name httpd stands for HTTP daemon, where HTTP means that the program handles web traffic, and daemon is the Unix/Linux name for what Windows users know as a service: software that runs in the background whether anyone is logged in or not. (The word daemon is properly pronounced “die-moan” or “day-moan”, but many sysadmins just call them “demons”, and you may need to follow suit to avoid causing confusion.)
Network Security Assessment: Know Your Network
May 07 2021
Possible attacks on the TCP/IP protocol stack and countermeasures
The task of a computer security system is to safeguard the information transmitted over the network and to adequately preserve the data stored in it.
Excluding in this discussion threats due to natural disasters, we can classify the man-made risk, to which an information system is subject, into intentional threats or unintentional threats due to negligence or inexperience.
Businesses need to protect themselves from these threats, which can put both applications and assets at serious risk.
Intentional human threats can come from individuals with an interest in acquiring information or limiting the operation of business processes, driven by the pursuit of financial or political gain, or simply for fun.
An intentional attack can come from individuals outside the organisation or from internal staff such as ex-employees, disgruntled employees or malicious actors. In fact, personnel who are familiar with the security systems and the structure of the information system and who have the authorisation to access the system itself, can get hold of information or insert malicious code more easily.
The development of the Internet and the distributed processing of information over shared lines has certainly made security a necessary duty. Therefore, the corporate network, if not adequately protected, could be subject to unauthorized access with possible network compromise and information theft.
May 04 2021
Hospital Operator Takes Network Offline After Major Cyberattack
A Californian hospital operator has made the move to take is network offline after it was hit by a major cyberattack.
Reports state that the Scripps Health computer network that operates across half a dozen hospitals and a number of outpatient facilities in the San Diego, California area was forced to move to offline procedures after hackers launched a major cyberattack.
The Californian hospital operator says it has contacted law enforcement and government agencies of the cyberattack, but failed to mention specifics of the departments it has informed of the potential data breach.Â
Hospital Operator Takes Network Offline After Major CyberattackÂ
Data Protection and Privacy in Healthcare
![security in 5G networks by [Dani Wade]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51cbNxgo+WL.jpg)
Feb 23 2021
How do I select a network monitoring solution for my business?
Network monitoring is essential for any organization with a network. Requirements may vary, but in general any IT team is going to need a single, comprehensive solution that shows the entire network in context and makes diagnosing network issues fast and easy.
An effective solution should be able to discover every device connected to the network, automatically generate a network map showing connections and give administrators an easy way to run device inventories and determine what should be monitored.
The solution should generate alerts for a myriad of network issues and support customizable thresholds, so the IT team can proactively respond before end users are impacted. It should monitor the entire network infrastructure (physical, virtual and cloud) while also supporting network traffic analysis, network and application performance monitoring, configuration management and log management. As well, the ability to automate common administrative tasks or implement self-healing actions will drastically reduce the workload of the IT team.
The importance of ease-of-use cannot be overstated! The solution also needs to be able to scale to meet future needs and should support widely geographically distributed networks. Integration with 3rd-party systems is also a key requirement, whether by out-of-the-box connectors or via a robust API.
How do I select a network monitoring solution for my business?
Apr 20 2019
Every Linux Networking Tool
Jan 29 2017
Top 5 excellent Antivirus Protection of 2017
Excellence is achievable but perfection is not. Find an excellent anti-virus product based on your requirements.
Malware are evolving faster than ever, so it’s encourging to discover that the latest generation of antivirus (AV) are better equipped to handle this evolving pace of change. Information security best practice recommends that every PC should run at least antivirus (antimalware), antispyware, and a firewall, and you keep it up to date. So if you’re not running an anti-virus, or may feel your anti-virus could do a bit more, take a look at the list below  and find an anti virus solution which fulfill your current needs based on the modern day threats.
All five antivirus solutions below includes On-Demand Malware Scan, On-Access Malware Scan, Website Rating, Malicious URL Blocking, Phishing Protection and Behavior-Based Detection.
1) McAfee Antivirus plus
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[mks_one_half]Unlimited protection for Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS devices. New behavior-centric antivirus engine. Essential antivirus protection for PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets. [/mks_one_half]
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2) Webroot Secure Anywhere Antivirus
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[mks_one_half]For Cloud Security it will analyze files, phishing sites, malicious web pages, IP addresses, and mobile apps providing a real time view of current threats and enabling protection from zero day attacks.Can recover files encrypted by ransomware. Uses tiny amount of disk space. Very fast scan. Handles unknown malware. Includes firewall.[/mks_one_half]
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3) Bitdefender Antivirus Plus
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[mks_one_half]Effective ransomware protection. Many bonus features including password manager, secure browser, and file shredder. Wi-Fi Security Advisor. Always secure on the go.
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4) Symantec Norton Antivirus Basic
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[mks_one_half]Protection is always up-to-date to defend against spyware, malware, and unsafe websites, while safeguarding your identity and online transactions. Powerful intrusion prevention. Norton Power Eraser blasts persistent malware. Password management.[/mks_one_half]
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5) Kaspersky Antivirus
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[mks_one_half]Kaspersky Anti-Virus helps protect against viruses, spyware & more. Great for antiphishing and speedy full-system scan.[/mks_one_half]
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Our recommendation is based on The best Antivirus protection of 2017
Top Rated Antivirus Protection
Dec 17 2012
5 Essentials changes to harden Network Infrastructure
First principle to understand vulnerability assessment, one can’t exploit the vulnerability if a threat does not exist. So by default the services (ports) which are not required in a system (server) will present an unnecessary threat to be exploited if specific vulnerability exists in a system.
These unnecessary and unattended services are also the prime target of an attacker which they will find in reconnaissance session and ultimately exploit these vulnerabilities to get into a system. Modern networks should be resilient enough to handle the availability and bandwidth of traffic but also the daily barrage of attacks. Information security is a necessary evil to stay in business (cost of doing business) today. Compliance and regulatory fines aside, InfoSec is treated as business enabler in today’s business suite.
Below are five services which must be disabled unless there is a business reason. If you do have to enable one of these services then utilize compensatory controls to minimize the given risk to acceptable level.
1. Finger – the finger is TCP Unix service (port 79) which is utilized to determine who was logged on to system. After that all you have to find what is their password to get into the system and there are plenty of brute force applications out there to do that for you. Same service can be provided from other lookup secure services (like whois) which may minimize the risk in your environment. So make sure this service is disabled on all devices.
2. Telnet – is used for remote device management to get into system, no wonder a gold mine for a hacker. Like FTP, Telnet communicate in clear text, so it is insecure protocol. So it should be replaced with other secure services like SSH (port 22).
3. HTTP – is the most common user friendly web interface today. Because of its commonality the hackers have discovered several methods of exploiting HTTP service. Beside that HTTP is a clear text protocol as well which provides an extra advantage to a hacker. So it should be replaced with other secure services like Https (port 443).
4. NTP – Network Time protocol utilize to synchronize all the time clocks with a remote time server which also use to keep all the logs in sync for forensic or incident handling. If NTP is not required on a system it should be disabled.
5. ICMP – is data link layer protocol which provides information about neighboring network devices. ICMP flood, also known as Ping flood or Smurf attack, is type of Denial of Service attack that sends large amounts of (or just over-sized) ICMP packets to a machine in order to attempt to crash the TCP/IP stack on the machine and cause it to stop responding to TCP/IP requests. Some time it necessary to enable this protocol when troubleshooting, so only enable when necessary otherwise keep it disable.
Please feel free to comment and add more services which you think should be added to this list
Related Topics
Oct 23 2011
Palo Alto Networks takes Firewalls to next Level
Ashlee Vance, Bloomberg Businessweek
For the past 15 years or so, security pros have relied on the trusty firewall and other hardware to keep bad guys from running amok on corporate networks. For the most part, this has meant blocking tainted e-mails and keeping workers away from harmful websites.
The latest wave of Web services, like Skype and Google Docs, has introduced fresh problems. They can transfer files, store data and allow remote computer access in ways that can’t be easily patrolled by the standard sentinels.
Nir Zuk has another option. He’s a veteran of the traditional firewall and security industry who struck out on his own six years ago to create a product for today’s Web. The company he founded, Palo Alto Networks, sells a next-generation firewall that makes modern Web services safe for the workplace and gives companies precise control over how their employees can use them.
“Our customers don’t want to block Facebook,” Zuk said. “They want to use it, but they also want some control.”
As interest in Web-based software has surged, so too have Palo Alto Networks’ sales. The company has hopped from office to bigger office since its birth at Zuk’s Palo Alto house in 2005. This year, the company moved into a giant headquarters in Santa Clara.
A year ago, Palo Alto Networks had 1,000 customers; today it has 4,500, including Qualcomm, the city of Seattle, and eBay. Sales will exceed $200 million this year, according to Zuk, who adds that the company is gearing up for an initial public offering.
Zuk says Palo Alto Networks owes much of its success to modern computing habits, which require more sophistication than what’s provided by traditional security products. Older firewalls are designed to monitor one-way traffic. E-mails and data from websites pour in, and the security products look for suspicious patterns. Yet threats can snake their way through a network in various ways: A worker might go to Facebook, click on a nefarious link, and download a virus. Soon enough, he’s using software from enterprise cloud computing company Salesforce.com to upload those infected sales data files and send them to colleagues.
“Most security groups used to focus on blocking apps like Skype or GoToMyPC but now are often required to allow them to be used,” says John Pescatore, an analyst at the research firm Gartner. “That’s why firewalls needed to evolve.”
Palo Alto Networks gives each Web service its own signature. This means that Palo Alto’s systems know when employees are using Skype or Salesforce.com, and have a general idea of what they’re doing there. Customers can set policies for how an application is used so that, for example, all employees can view Google Docs files, but only some can actually create them.
Keeping track of all the traffic flowing through a corporate network requires a lot of computing horsepower, and part of Palo Alto Networks’ secret sauce is a homegrown chip that chews through data quickly. A Palo Alto Networks system can even peer into encrypted traffic: It’s fast enough to decrypt packets of information, check whether they’re safe, and then pass them on to the employee who requested them, all without much lag.
Norm Fjeldheim, the chief information officer at chipmaker Qualcomm, says the Palo Alto Networks systems he bought replaced not just firewalls but also things such as intrusion detection hardware and other types of security systems. “They are doing the work that was done by multiple things in the past,” Fjeldheim said. “They watch over everything.”
To date, Palo Alto Networks has raised a total of $65 million. In August, Palo Alto Networks lured Mark McLaughlin from his role as CEO of VeriSign to run the young company and prepare it for an IPO.
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital is one investor.
Said partner Jim Goetz: “I don’t think we’ve ever seen an enterprise technology company grow as quickly.”
Download the e-book now!
Download a Free copy of “Next-Generation Firewalls for Dummies” ebook to find out why traditional firewalls can’t protect your network | Checkout the sample chapter online
PALO ALTO NETWORKS RECOGNIZED FOR ENTERPRISE FIREMALLS.: An article from: Computer Security Update
Aug 05 2010
Security and vulnerability assessments
Must have official EC-Council guide to security and vulnerability assessments!
Network Defense: Security and Vulnerability Assessment (Ec-Council Press Series: Network Defense)
This book will provide you with the fundamental knowledge necessary to comprehend overall network security posture and the basic practices in vulnerability assessment. This book will prepare you to take and pass the EC-Council Network Security Administrator (ENSA) exam.
Proactive vulnerability assessment is key to any organisation’s security posture. Constant assessment for potential weakness is required to maintain a security edge. New vulnerabilities in operating systems, software, hardware, and even human elements are identified and exploited every day. This book will give you the information necessary to master this skill.
Contents of the Book:
Key Features and Benefits:
* Will provide you with the fundamental knowledge necessary to comprehend overall network security posture and the basic practices in vulnerability assessment. Helping you to ensure your organisation is well protected.
* Using this book, as well as the other four books in the Network Defense series, to prepare for the ENSA exam you can ensure yourself of the best chance possible of passing on your first attempt.
* Includes Hands-On Projects to encourage you to problem-solve and apply your knowledge. Helping you to ingrain the information in your mind in a practical way.
Book Details:
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Course Technology; 1 edition (April 14, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1435483596
ISBN-13: 978-1435483590
Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
Network Defense: Security and Vulnerability Assessment (Ec-Council Press Series: Network Defense)
Feb 10 2009
Defense in depth and network segmentation
Traditional security schemes are incapable of meeting new security challenges of today’s business requirements. Most security architectures are perimeter centric and lack comprehensive internal controls. Organizations which are dependent on firewall security might be overtaxing (asking security mechanism to do more than it can handle). Some of the old firewalls rule set stay intact for years, which might be a liability when the firewall rule set neither represent current business requirements and nor are protecting critical assets appropriately.
“Firewalls are typically managed by a succession of administrators who create their own rules, which then accumulate over a period of years. This creates rule duplication, which can impinge on performance, but also brings risks such as the use default or open passwords.”
The first step in defense in depth is designing a corporate network segmentation policy which describes which departments, application, services and assets should reside on a separate network. Network segmentation will assure that threats are localized with minimal impact on the organization. NIST, ISO27002, and PCI emphasis the importance of network segmentation but does not mandate the requirement. At the same time PCI Standard committee emphasize in new standards that the compliance scope can be significantly minimized by placing all the related assets in the same segment. Network segmentation is not only a common sense in today’s market but also one of the most effective and economical control to implement, simply a great return on investment.
Network segmentation benefits:
o Improve network performance and reduce network congestion
o Contain attacks (viruses, worms, trojans, spam, adware) from overflowing into other networks.
o Improve security by ensuring that nodes are not visible to unauthorized networks. Reduce the size of broadcast domain
Basic idea behind defense in depth is to protect your crown jewel in multiple layers of defense, should one fail, another will provide crucial protection. Another important thing to remember is that we cannot defend everything, so our defense in depth approach should be asset centric rather than perimeter or technology centric. Perform a thorough risk assessment to find out your most important assets and apply the defense in depth approach to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of those critical assets. Examples of network segmentation include wireless network, where you place the wireless network users in their own segment behind a firewall with their own rule set. This rule set will help to contain the users on wireless network as well as any potential attacks on the organization. To get to the content of another segment in the network, the wireless users has to pass through all the layers of protection.
Defense in depth diagram
Different attacks will be handled by different layers. In the outer layer 1 will handle most of the network related attacks while the layer 2 will handle most of the script based attacks which target the operating system. Layer 3 will handle most of the application attacks which are complex and only utilized by skilled attackers. Layer 4 is your final frontier where you protect your crown jewel by moving many of the tools and techniques used at the perimeter closer to critical assets.
Related article
• Network segmentation is a common sense
Defense in depth
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTJSMjYd9c4&feature=related
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