NETWORKS- Security measures

Organisations must keep networks secure from hackers in order to protect sensitive information and comply with data protection laws

• User has to enter username and password • Can be authenticated by other methods such as biometric (biometric measures use scanners to identify people by a unique part if their body e.g. fingerprint) • Login details matched to a database of users

Hackers Unauthorised access

• Passwords • Biometrics- (Biometrics can be expensive to implement as they require special hardware) • Email confirmation • CAPTCHA ( STAND FOR -Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart)

• It is designed to prevent programs from automatically doing certain things, like creating user accounts on a website • It usually consists of a simple task, like typing out a blurred or distorted word from an image, or recognising things like animals and signposts • These test rely on computers not being able to read images as well as humans can.

These are used to patch (fix) any identified security holes in a piece of software. Software that is unpatched or outdated could be more easily exploited by hackers, malware and viruses.

User access levels control which parts of the network different groups of users can access. User access levels limit the number of people with access to important data, so help prevent attacks from within the organisation

For example, business managers are likely to have a higher access level allowing them to access more sensitive data, like pay information.

Encryption is when data is translated into a code which only someone with the correct key can access.

Encrypted text is called cipher text and data which has not been encrypted is called plain text.

Data theft

Anti-malware software is designed to find and stop malware from damaging an organisation’s network and the devices on it

There are lots of different types of anti-malware software. For example, firewalls examine all data entering and leaving a network and block potential threats.

Firewalls can be software or hardware- often both types are used for extra security

It checks the unique identification (MAC address) of each device that tries to connect to the network and only let’s the allowed devices to join the network.

This is a way to make sure the only people on a network are trusted users. It is effective against unauthorised devices