TABLE OF CONTENTS Network security is the ongoing process of maintaining the privacy of data that should remain private. Security threats are intentional and unintentional, and can come from outside or inside an organization. Employees, who typically have more knowledge of a network than external crackers, are responsible for more than half the security violations that trouble networks.
Although it is virtually impossible to make a network totally secure, an organization that wants to minimize its risk as much as is technologically and financially feasible will begin by creating a security policy. The policy contains the goals, objectives, and standards for security activities. Implementation details are left to network administrators, giving them the flexibility to upgrade security equipment and procedures without requiring changes to the policy.
The security of a network typically is verified by an audit performed by an outside firm. The audit uses the organization s security policy as a guide to determine what and how to test.
