Comprehensive Security Solutions

This chapter discusses comprehensive security solutions. The defense‐in‐depth approach looks at more than just basic security concepts. This methodology is the sum of the methods, techniques, tools, people, and controls used to protect critical assets and information. Comprehensive controls are needed because so many more systems are connected to the Internet, and so much more sensitive data is now stored in electronic systems than in the past. A review of CERT statistics over the last several years shows steady increases in the numbers of reported incidents and vulnerabilities. Network authentication is a key area of knowledge for the security professional because it serves as the first line of defense. It consists of two pieces: identification and authentication. There are many different network designs, such as bus, ring, star, and even mesh. The Internet is an example of a mesh network. It is a network of networks; one in which there are many paths that data can traverse to a given destination. The mesh network design is configured so that each node can forward data. One of the big advantages of a mesh network is its ability to self‐heal. This simply means that if one node goes down, there are others to take its place.