Network SecurityComputer Network Security Center

Remote access networking is a necessity for any company that wants to remain competitive. However, it poses a security threat because it creates an openness that leaves valuable corporate resources vulnerable to attacks from unexpected directions. These attacks are launched for several reasons such as intellectual challenge, revenge, and greed. Regardless of the reason, an attack can sometimes be very costly to the company. For example, the intruder can gain access to company confidential files, corrupt company records, inject computer viruses into the network, or reconfigure the network. For these reasons, remote access network security is mandatory for companies with remote login facilities. A corporate network that provides remote access must provide enough security to authenticate users and protect the network resources from unauthorized access.

This article presents an overview of the security mechanisms used in remote access networks. The article discusses the types of attack that a network can be vulnerable to and the security services that are provided in a network. The first step in providing these services is to render data unintelligible to an unauthorized user through the process of encryption. The authorized user recovers the original data from the encrypted data through the inverse process of decryption. The article also covers Web security. Read the rest of this entry »