With business networks getting bigger, there are higher chances of attacks on the networks and this poses a sheer necessity to protect the integrity of a network against unauthorized users and keep the data safe from malware threats and hackers. Businesses struggle to attain complete network security against sophisticated hacking and intruding tools. Not only small businesses but also big enterprises often lack efficient resources to ascertain fool-proof security. With efficient network security systems not in place, the enterprise network is very much vulnerable for intruder and malicious attacks. Some of the essential security systems include:
- Firewalls
- Secure web gateways
- Cloud security
- Data centre security devices
- VPN concentrators
- Intrusion prevention systems etc.
For a secure business network, it is very essential to embed right host security, network security, Sandbox, virus and malware protection, authentication servers, DDOS protection and all.
A sneak peek into Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems: An intrusion detection and prevention system assists in identifying possible potential threats and take quick actions against them to render better network security in a business network setup. The input and output traffic in the network is monitored and any threat of illegitimate traffic is immediately terminated. IPS Intrusion prevention system are designed based on different mechanisms. However, the two prominent mechanisms in place at the moment are:
- Signature-based detection and
- Statistical anomaly- based detection.
These mechanisms further involve packet anomaly detection, generic pattern matching, address matching, etc to identify the intruders into a network. These systems efficiently segregate between legitimate traffic in a network and takes action based on the definition by the network administrator. Its main working pattern follows identifying suspicious activity, recording the information, taking immediate action and reporting to the system administrator.
These systems were initially built as a standalone security essential during the mid-2000s period. Today, these systems are incorporated into a network along with a firewall or in the form of Unified Threat Management. The firewall system allows or blocks a particular network traffic and is also embedded with functionalities including incorporation of future information needs and block risky applications and settings. Thus, the intrusion detection and prevention system provides a complementary degree of analysis to select and block dangerous content in the network. If any threats are detected in the business network, the system proceeds with automated actions provided by the network administrator that include resetting the network connection, dropping the malicious or intruder packets or even sending a threat alert to the administrator to take immediate action. Today, the next generation intrusion prevention systems are available, which work fast to avoid the occurrence of exploits on the network in real-time. The efficiency of these systems is also high and thus avoid any kind of degradation of the network’s performance. It is highly advantageous as a reliable, well-constructed, and efficient intrusion prevention system requires very little or no need of human interference.
Chances of false-positive and false-negative results: There are chances that an intrusion prevention system identifies and reports a false positive packet where it detects a legitimate request as spam and blocks as if it is a vulnerable exploit in the system. Also, it might fail to recognize an illegitimate traffic and allows it in the system. Both of these conditions are to be properly managed in order to get the intact, fool-proof network security with host-based or network-based intrusion prevention systems.
