One aspect of network security that is often overlooked is checking a network for issues using a vulnerability scanner. Vulnerabilities are issues, weaknesses or misconfiguration in software that an attacker can exploit to gain unauthorized access to his victim’s system. Through the use of a vulnerability scanner, these issues are pinpointed and reported to the administrator.

Perhaps the primary reason why vulnerability scanning is taken for granted is because vulnerabilities are considered to be issues which are fixed through patch management. It is a common misconception that with a patch management strategy, the vulnerabilities found on the network are also being taken care of. This is partially true when considering how a chunk of vulnerabilities are in fact software issues that are fixed by patching, however it is not always the case. Vulnerabilities can be caused by mis-configurations, software that is inherently problematic or even software issues for which the vendor has not yet released a patch.

What can we do about vulnerabilities?

The first step is to see if your system does in fact have any vulnerability. For this you need to use a vulnerability scanner or, although not recommended if your budget is limited, you can run a vulnerability scan manually.

Running a vulnerability scan manually:

It is possible to do a vulnerability assessment without the use of any software, although this will have an intrinsic amount of inaccuracy and will be very time consuming. In order to determine if there are vulnerabilities on your network through a manual vulnerability scan, you should first get a list of applications / services installed on your network. Once the list is available, check each software’s official site to see if there are any issues / insecurities reported by the vendor. Some vendors will also offer guides on how their application should be configured securely. Generally, such guides will also contain information on what configuration options to avoid. This information is very useful and it is definitely a good idea to read them. The next step is to check vulnerability database sites for the latest lists. Sites like the National Vulnerability Database and Bugtraq are a central location for known vulnerabilities – checking these sites regularly in relation to what software is running on your network is highly important.

Running a vulnerability scan using a vulnerability scanner:

A more effective way to do vulnerability scanning is through the use of a vulnerability scanner. These scanners will have a database of vulnerabilities that is automatically updated by the vulnerability scanner vendor whenever a new vulnerability is discovered. An administrator can set up the scanner to automatically scan the network periodically and issue reports when a new vulnerability is detected. It might also offer remediation options or a detailed description of what is causing the vulnerability and what should be done to fix that vulnerability.

Regardless of whether you run a vulnerability scan manually or using a vulnerability scanner, your network should be monitored for vulnerabilities.  Most vulnerabilities will lead to a system compromise of some degree which in turn can result in serious consequences for the business.  Vulnerability scanning is a preventive measure that can potentially save your business’s reputation and assets.

This guest post was provided by Emmanuel Carabott on behalf of GFI Software Ltd. GFI is a leading software developer that provides a single source for network administrators to address their network security, content security and messaging needs. More information: GFI vulnerability scanner

*All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

IT industry is going with very rapid pace but security issues related to it are keep striking it mostly harmed due to lack of knowledge regarding security. The way gadgets & web sites taking every information in digital level – all employees of IT organization must be trained to secure all the data & digital documentation.

This is where the role of information security training makes a lot of difference from safety perspective for any organizational data and network information. This security training is very essential to every employee that deals with data not only in IT industry but also in most of other fields.

Earning a Degree in Information Security

Choosing best program that fits you need is very essential before diving in to the information security trainings that various colleges offers. Having bachelor’s degree in computer science, information science or management information systems is a good starting point for a career in computer security. If you think it’s a good training for you to make dedicated career in then you can also take specialization courses in system security. If you already graduated in computers then having security certification will give you an edge while looking for job in market.

Technology changes rapidly, so information security specialists are often required to take ongoing education courses throughout their careers. Computer security specialists may have opportunities to advance into supervisory positions as their career develops.

Major Content You learn In Information Security Training

Internet security, wireless security, securing business applications, network 7 authentication security is basically included in your training. After completing this degree program you can work for operating system security, secure computer networks design, implement and execute counter-attack measures on security breaches & most of security jobs.

You’ll develop strong problem solving & logic skills that are essential to defend your organization data theft & cyber attacks. You’ll learn to face such attacks in real time model, So you can learn by the way any hacker would.

Westwood College offers a hands-on bachelor’s degree program in information technology: major in systems security. Westwood also offers a bachelor’s degree program in information technology: major in computer forensics.

It is not strange to call this generation as “intelligent” generation, the era of computers & internet. Humans are connected to each other through the world of computers spread over a network.
Essentially, in technical language, Computers communicate with each other through network. So any data communication between 2 or more computers involves transfer, sharing of vital data. The basic idea of networks is allow people remote access to geographically distant resources without having to be physically present. It has also been designed to send data back and forth, to stay connected.

There are large networks and small networks, but size is irrelevant in terms of importance of network security. The purpose of network security, quite simply, is to protect the network and its component parts from unauthorized access and misuse. Networks are vulnerable because of their inherent characteristic of facilitating remote access. For example, if a hacker wanted to access a computer not on a network, physical access would be vital. However, with networks in the picture, it is possible to bypass that particular security aspect. Therefore, it is vital for any network administrator, regardless of the size and type of network, to implement stringent security policies to prevent potential
losses.

The networks are computer networks, both public and private, that are used every day to conduct transactions and communications among businesses, government agencies and individuals. Today, most companies’ host computers can be accessed by their employees whether in their offices over a private communications network, or from their homes or hotel rooms while on the road through normal telephone lines.

Network security involves all activities that organizations, enterprises, and institutions undertake to protect the value and ongoing usability of assets and the integrity and continuity of operations. An effective network security strategy requires identifying threats and then choosing the most effective set of tools to combat them. Often important data is transferred from one computer system to other over the network. Network security safeguards the data communication so that vital information data is secured.

Whenever the word network security appears, it appears in conjunction with another popular buzzword “Ethical hacking”. The word “ethical” has special meaning as ethical hacking is very closely related to network security & is simply the use of programming skills to determine vulnerabilities in computer systems. Performed by special computer programming experts or hackers, it is very vital for the computers connected over network. With increasing use of the Internet and concerns about its security, especially when it comes to things like consumer information or private medical details, there is considerable need for computer experts to work in ethical hacking.

This is the guest post & Following is the Author Bio : Internet hacking is accessing a secure computer system by disabling or bypassing the security through internet. There are many ethical hacking tutorials available with which one can learn the ways of detecting the loopholes in cyber security.

This article is posted under the “Ethical Hacking Student Guide Series”. So don’t forget to subscribe our blog to stay updated.

Penetration testing in simple words can be defined as the test on the live networks or servers directly by attacking by the trained ethical hacking professional person or network security administrator.

If you still cant get, let me make it simpler for you. Consider an organization having its employee working on certain software. It stores all database into some kind of “database server”. What will we do is just hire some ethical hacking trained person & he will directly conduct the test on the possible vulnerable areas of the system or network or the software.

Why Penetration Testing if we can do Vulnerability Assessments?

Well in vulnerability assessment we basically use the automated software which can be handled by unskilled employee. It scans for general vulnerabilities which are well known. But you have to consider those criminal hackers which are always looking for the newest security breaches or flaws on subjected systems. They always wish to do things in smarter way. And to detect such unique security holes we can better perform a penetration testing on network. Its worth, trust me.

Every ethical hacking student has to learn penetration testing as it is the most exciting & hardest thing to do in ethical hacking. If you want to learn hacking then you cant miss this part as it is one of the core exercises that ethical hacking professional have to perform.

We can simply find something which is known to all in vulnerability assessment, but something where you have to test your patience & knowledge is termed as penetration testing in your ethical hacking syllabus.

Classification of Penetration Testing

Penetration testing is basically classified according to the things that are known to ethical hackers. It is classified as follows

- White Box Testing
- Black Box Testing

In white box tests the ethical hacker physically sees all network & its previous data & updates. Means he knows everything then he performs testing.

In black box testing ethical hackers do complete attack without knowing even the operating stem on the networks. So black box test is real hard thing to do in ethical hacking.

You will get to know this more in upcoming posts here on Hackers Enigma, so just come back or click here to subscribe our ethical hacking blog.

Please don’t hesitate to ask any question here in comments; even you think it will be stupid to ask & even if you are a beginner & don’t know anything about this. I will answer all your doubts regarding it.
 

Steganography is method of hiding files in image files.

This is used mostly on a network so that files can be stored secretly. This method is very harmful for those where source codes of viruses and and programs can be stored. Also some secret file can also be stored and it can be any information about sytem and system weaknesses.

Following are the softwares used for setganography:

Steganography

1. Image Hide

2. Snow: Fioles are sored in white or blank spaces of any text files.

3. MP3stegno: Used for storing files in MP3 file format which is almost undetectable.

Prevention Measures Against Steganography:

We can use softwares for setecting such files and we can also tranck the stored content for the security of the system.

Stegdetect: This simple software detects such files stored on system or network.

Stegbreak: Used to crack the password of such files by Dictionary attack.