Security Description Characteristics


	Lesson 2 Objective	What is security? Describe security and security statistics
		The Internet is available to anyone with a network connection and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) account. In fact, it was designed to be an open network and therefore has little built-in capacity for securing information. From a security standpoint, the Internet is inherently insecure; the challenge is to protect sensitive data while allowing authorized personnel to use it. Open network:A group of servers and computers, such as the Internet, which allows free access. Securing resources In computer networking, security can be defined as a continuing process in which an administrator ensures that information is shared only between authorized users. The process of planning and implementing security in your business requires that you understand the resources you are protecting, as shown in the MouseOver below. Protecting Security Resources Security statistics According to the Computer Security Division and Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), hacking is on the rise and is becoming increasingly destructive. One of every five Internet sites has experienced a security breach Losses due to security breaches are estimated at $10 billion annually Intrusions have increased an estimated 50 percent in the past year In spite of these statistics, many sites do not have afirewall in place, do not have a written network security policy, and do not know whether they had been attacked or not. Firewall: A security system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Effects of Security Policy You always need to consider the effect that your security policy will have on legitimate users. In most cases, if the effort required by your users to use the system is greater than the resulting increase in security, your policy will actually reduce your company's effective level of security.