Assessing Network Security Risks

Unfortunately, the ability to share and obtain information comes with significant risks. Competitors might try to gain access to early or proprietary product information, or someone might maliciously modify Web pages or overload computers so that they are unusable. There is also the possibility that employees might access information that they should not see. You want to avoid these and other types of security risks to ensure that your company's business functions can carry on as intended. To make sure that only the appropriate people have access to resources and data, it is a good idea to review your network security technologies carefully and plan your strategies well. This also provides accountability by tracking how network resources are used.

For a general discussion about how to identify security risks and select appropriate strategies, see "Planning Distributed Security"in this book.

Note

Some organizations minimize network security risks by not allowing connections to the Internet or any other public network. This obviously limits the community of people who can misuse the network facilities. However, network security risks can still exist within the organization, and even limited network connections can expose some risks. Therefore, network security strategies and technologies are still necessary in these situations.

Figure 17.1 illustrates the primary steps for determining your network security strategies.

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Figure 17.1 Process for Determining Network Security Strategies

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