BSIT220-T302 Network Mgmt & Intrastructure (2193-1)

I do not perform any network management functions in my current job, but I do use computers and networked systems on a daily basis. I enjoyed learning about many of the topics during the past 12 weeks, but the ones that stood out the most were network planning and design, TCP/IP, network segmentation, and encryption protocols. I do not like the idea of sharing my private life with people I do not know (social media), but I do see the benefit of blogging in this specific case. Blogging requires the author to research topics and articulate knowledge and ideas. As well, blogging can be beneficial since the blogger should be writing to teach and influence an audience, which translates into being able to send out newsletters to employees about network security. At the very least, the blogs are a good start for creating personal logs of knowledge. I do believe it is a useful skill.

Numerous threats will cause damage to a network. Devices, storage units, and the network itself are vulnerable to hackers. The initial attack can begin from any one of those three points. Dangers range from insider threats and poor access controls to unmanaged applications and viruses from outside the network. One example of poor system security is “overlooked” system updates for software on your systems, which creates a weak point for hackers to access. It’s smarter to install patches on your systems than to risk leaving know (and unknown) vulnerabilities open for attack. Some of the specific threats include phishing, man in the middle, session hijacking, brute force, spoofing, de-authentication, and VLAN hopping Phishing is just as it sounds. The perpetrator throws the bait (money) in the water (your email) and hopes you bite a bait (click the embedded link). The man in the middle and session hijacking attacks are similar, but slightly different. The session hijacking sche

Often, homeowners and business administrators use newer capabilities such as remote access to manage a network. Do you want to add devices such as a wireless HVAC controller and water heater controller? That is no problem. There was as recent burglary down the street so you want to install a few cameras. That is not difficult, wireless camera systems are abundant and relatively easy to setup. Is there any danger when installing all of those devices on a network? Yes, there is a risk. Most of the wireless devices are not secure, which creates vulnerabilities in a network. Can someone access the camera system and see inside my property? It is possible, but preventable. Applying a few basic security techniques greatly reduces the threat. Some of the all-purpose precautions that help prevent unauthorized access to your network include maintaining up-to-date software, restricting or eliminating public networks, using passwords that are less common than 123456, password, and abc123. As

Businesses evolve and venture into new types of services and products. As well, some businesses will expand and move to a different building or location. Another potential issue, Microsoft announced that Windows 7 will reach the end of its life after January 14, 2020 . That means that Microsoft will no longer develop and update Windows 7. Those three issues could require a business to purchase additional computer systems and use new versions of an operating system that could make important applications unusable. One way to resolve those three issues is to use a virtual machine. Essentially, a primary system will use a program such as  VMWare  that enables multiple instances of an operating system.  The clients will  only need a bare boned device and software such as MWare’s  ThinApp .  Even better is the ability to supply multiple versions of operating systems. If you use an application that does not work with Windows 10, you can run an instance of Windows 7 (among others) from the v