In networking, acting as the communications or traffic entry point from the Wide Area Network, the LAN-to-WAN domain is essential and also allows internet connection for organizations. Also, it acts as traffic from the LAN or as an exit point for communications. The information technology team and the management of the organization prioritize the implementation process of adequate measures security wise for the company ( Kim & Solomon, 2016) . The reason for adequate protection is that data may get lost destroyed or even malicious software gets installed in the network by spiteful computer users and hackers who may utilize the numerous internet deficiencies available (Burke, 2015). The remote access of employees using personal or owned laptops, un-patched client software, weak passwords, and unpatched servers are some of the factors that contribute to the occurrence of internet deficiencies (Kim & Solomon, 2016).
The importance of data has risen to individuals who are outside the organizations since the organization's management regards it as an essential component. The increased significance of the information has made its protection getting prioritized by eliminating any weakness in the network and also making sure that there is enough security ( Harwood & Harwood, 2015 ). Data security is an essential aspect for managers in organizations since any security breach on data may lead to sabotage of customers' information as well as the vital records financial of the firm as for this case. Sensitive business data owned by the firm needs protection, and the next section of this paper will propose the desired security measures that need to get incorporated into the system.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Security and protection of data from either destruction or theft can get addressed using various hardware and software equipment. Hiding internal IP addresses, deterring of any malicious users and filtering network traffic are some of the crucial areas the hardware and software equipment will address in ensuring the security of data across the WAN. Since the survival of the organizations heavily depends on the safety of the customers' financial information, the measures put in place are pivotal in ensuring long term survivability.
Firewalls
The component responsible for filtering communication or traffic messages that enter or leave Wide Area Network from or to the Local Area Network or the internet is referred to as firewalls ( Malik, 2003 ). The firewalls can either be software or hardware. Firewalls are responsible for determining if traffic meets a specified security criterion since they monitor and evaluate traffic that is entering and leaving a private network. The traffic that does not meet the required and specified criteria gets blocked by the firewall. The blocking of traffic that doesn't fit the necessary standards protects the LAN from damages or data security breaches since the firewall prevent any potential malicious traffic (Kim & Solomon, 2016). Therefore to make sure that the organization network is not vulnerable to an online attack, the management of the firm should install firewalls in all switches and routers as a security measure.
Also, a combination of two or more firewall techniques will be a great move in addition to installing these firewalls in ensuring that internet security of the organization is adequately addressed. A proxy server that intercepts traffic that enters and leaves the network will be a useful firewall technique for the organization (Burke, 2015). This technique improves the security of the network considerably because it helps in hiding the exact addresses of the network. The company can also employ the Application Gateway technique. Telenet and FTP servers are some of the systems that this technique applies its security measures. The method is useful in protecting the network from any online activity that is malicious even though the process may degrade the network's performance (Lorello, & Lorello, 2017). Finally, for the organization to ensure that it fulfills the security specifications in the network, a packet filter technique should get implemented by the firm to filter and check each packet leaving or entering the network. Security compliance will get effective if these three firewalls methods get combined.
Network Address Translation (NAT)
Network Address Translation is essential in connecting the internet with private IP networks (Lorello, & Lorello, 2017). Before forwarding the packets to another network, NAT translates the private address in the LAN to a legal address first. The IP addresses used in communicating between various offices get hidden using this method (Burke, 2015). The hiding of the address is possible since anything outside the network gets represented by a single router allowed by NAT.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
The organizational branches get assured of secure network communication by employing this technique. The exchange of data between the offices will be possible since the internet is the principal means (Kim & Solomon, 2016). A tunnel that is essential in transmitting data between two points gets encrypted over the internet by the VPN.
Decoys
Security breaches may occur due to undetected internal and external threats ( Weiss & Solomon, 2010 ). For early identification and prevention of security breaches, decoy documents are useful tools employed to prevent any danger from accessing data that is sensitive to the organization (Burke, 2015). Monitoring of any potential attacker and developing an appropriate measure to hinder their advancement is also possible for the network administrators with the help of this decoy documents.
Patch management
For the organization to ensure maximum regular security, operating systems and applications get set to update automatically by network developers. Operating systems and un-patched servers pose a severe network security threat as indicated earlier (Kim & Solomon, 2016). To eliminate any network security deficiencies, patching of operating systems and regular updates will be vital in protecting the organization's data.
References
Burke, C. (2015). Implementation and Evaluation of Virtual Network Functions Performance in the Home Environment.
Harwood, M., & Harwood, M. (2015). Internet security: How to defend against attackers on the web . Burlington, MA : Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Kim, D., & Solomon, M. G. (2016). Fundamentals of information systems security. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Lorello, T. J., & Lorello, A. J. (2017). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/587,583.
Malik, S. (2003). Network security principles and practices: [expert solutions for securing network infrastructures and VPNs ; CCIE professional development] . Indianapolis, Ind: Cisco Press.
Weiss, M., & Solomon, M. (2010). Auditing IT infrastructures for compliance . Jones & Bartlett Publishers. 6282.35
