What can organisations do

• Organisations want to prevent their network from having any vulnerabilities - They'll often follow a set of rules and procedures to ensure their network is protected against attacks and unauthorised access
• What can organisations do to protect their networks

  • Regularly test the network to find and fix security weaknesses and investigate problems if they happen 
  • Use passwords to prevent unauthorised people from accessing the network 
  • Enforce user access levels to limit the number of people with access to sensitive information 
  • Install anti-malware and firewall software to prevent malicious software attacks 
  • Encrypt sensitive data
• Penetration testing

  • Penetration testing , also known as pentesting is when organisations employ specialists to simulate potential attacks on their network 
  • Penetration testing is used to identify possible weaknesses in a network’s security by trying to exploit them 
  • The results of the pentest are then reported back
• Physical security

  • Physical security protects the physical parts of a network from either intentional or unintentional damage (e.g. fire, flooding, theft, vandalism, etc) 
  • Physical security can involve many different things. These include : 
  • Locks and passcodes to restrict access to certain areas e.g. server rooms 
  • Surveillance equipment , e.g. camera or motion sensors to deter intruders
• Passwords

  • Passwords help prevent unauthorised users accessing the network 
  • Passwords should be strong - they should be many characters long , use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols and be changed regularly
• User access levels

  • User access levels control which parts of the network different groups of users can access 
  • E.g. business managers are likely to have a higher access level allowing them to access more sensitive data , like pay information 
  • They may also have write access to files that others can only read and the ability to change employees’ access levels 
  • User access levels help limit the number of people with access to important data , so help prevent insider attacks on the network
• Anti Malware software

  • Anti-Malware software is designed to find and stop malware from damaging an organisations network and the devices on it  
  • There are lots of different types of anti-malware software, including antivirus programs which isolate and destroy computer viruses 
  • Companies use firewalls to block unauthorised access 
  • Firewalls examine all data entering and leaving the network and block any potential threats
• Encryption

  • Encryption is when data is translated into a code which only someone with the correct key can access , meaning unauthorised users cannot read it 
  • Encrypted text is called cipher text 
  • Data which has not been encrypted is called plain text 
  • Encryption is essential for sending over a network securely