Prevention to Threats and Attacks on Computer Network Assignment

Prevention to Threats and Attacks on Computer Network - Assignment Example An IDS based signature monitors the network for packets and compares them against signatures or known threats in the database. Tremendous increase of services and information that is sensitive on networks has made security very important. However, the more network technologies have developed, the more network attacks have increased in severity and numbers. Intrusion detection systems (IDS) can effectively provide network security by preventing, detecting, and possibly fighting attacks. Such systems monitor sources of activities while employing various security techniques. Therefore, they ought to be precise in quickly defining attacks, in training and generating very few positives. Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) monitor networks for intrusions or attacks, reporting them to the administrator for necessary activity. A NIDS server that is large enough may be created on a backbone of network, to check and asses all traffic; or other smaller systems may be created to check or asses traffic for a specific server, gateway, switch, or router. The computing environment is constantly evolving and this demands Intrusion detection products to aid in managing attacks in this changing environment. Threats can be individuals or groups that wish to compromise a computer system such as disgruntled employees, rival companies or even foreign governments and their attacks can be devastating on the network systems. Intrusion attacks are those where an attacker enters ones network to read, damage, and/or steal data (Albitz 1992). These attacks can be divided into two: Port scans: A scanner is a program that probes a system remotely to establish which TCP/UPD ports are open and if they are subject to attacks. It identifies a computer at risk within the network, find the services that are installed on the computer, and show weaknesses in operation (Hudson KURT and Stewart Michael.