The main goal of a network security course is to help you secure data assets and protect the corporate IT network. Typically, enterprises are threatened by technology risks and vulnerabilities for being connected to the Internet or for handling client’s confidential information. There are statistical evidences about network threats supported by network penetration testing experts, which states that in countries such as Australia, UK, Dubai, Sri-Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, two out of three companies have suffered attacks against their IT networks.
Typical network security courses teach professionals that by simply installing an antivirus or firewall in their networks they are 100% secure from threats. This is a really common error; even though these solutions can prevent some of the attacks, there are many other attacks that cannot be prevented by an antivirus software or firewall. Enterprises professionals should consider network security course that covers all kinds of IT risks and focuses on the network penetration testing processes.
Traditional network security trainings don’t provide in-depth knowledge of network security assessment, which result in new threats. A comprehensive network security course should focus on both internal and external risks. External risks originate outside the company’s network, such as an external network hacker, and can be handled via external network security assessment. On the other hand, internal risks originate within the enterprise network’s boundaries, an insider or external hacker with access to network resources, for example. Handling internal security risks is a challenging task, but it can easily be achieved through comprehensive network security training, alongside with network security assessment tools. Experts consider that network security training can protect enterprise networks and resources from external and internal risks.
Our comprehensive network security course focuses on network security assessment & network penetration testing so your enterprises can easily meet the data protection standards and gain customers’ trust. Below are the phases of our network security training for securing Ethernet and Wifi security.
Ethernet Network Security
Ethernet security is very important for any company. Our network penetration testing specialists cover the following Ethernet security mechanisms during the course.
- Patching: According to enterprise network security training experts, patching is not only about enabling automatic software updates for each computer and network device. Firmware and operating systems usually install relevant updates automatically. An update may include patches for some vulnerabilities or an upgrade to improve system performance and users’ experience. In the case, a patch is unavailable or can’t be applied for some compatibility reason, how to fix the vulnerability? A comprehensive network security course should teach all these scenarios along with concepts of micro patching.
- Firewalling: Using a firewall prevents hackers from gaining access to network resources. A firewall provides access control and filters the network communications. Network security assessment consultants state that some firewall solutions can allow access to the local network from the Internet if the user has logged in as an internal user. Thus proper network penetration testing must be considered along with firewalls to isolate networks and completely prevent certain types of data leaks. Network security course focuses on configuring firewalls aptly and implementing anti-spam solutions.
- Malware signature creation: Viruses can get into your networks through spam, external drives, USB drives or files downloaded from the Internet. As new malware variants are detected every day, a good antivirus solution is a must for any company. Our network security training focuses on how antivirus software helps detecting cyber threats and how to create malware signatures. As per the network security assessment consultants, these signatures can really help your company in preventing future incidents. Network penetration testing specialists suggest that an individual user can rely on a free antivirus, but enterprise users must learn how to configure advanced malware detection tools depending on their IT infrastructure.
- Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) & Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS): These solutions have a different approach on network intrusions. IDS & IPS proactively detect complex traffic patterns and grant sysadmins the ability to respond to any imminent network attack. The network security course covers implementation of these tools in an enterprise ecosystem. As in the case of firewalling, network penetration testing should be considered after the implementation to ensure the required levels of security. As per network penetration testing standards, your company’s IT team should supervise the events generated by IDS/IPS or can hire an external network security assessment service, to do the same.
- Virtual LAN (VLAN). This is a method of creating independent logical networks within a computer network. A computer network can have multiple virtual networks. VLAN is one of the focuses of network security course and it teaches you t to divide groups of network users in a real physical network into logical segmented networks. The course admins learn to configure VLANs through software rather than hardware and how to perform network penetration testing on VLANs. To deploy even more security, you can learn how to configure Private VLAN, VLAN Micro during the network security training.
- Access control lists (ACL). Configuring ACL is another solution that must be considered during network security training for implementing logical security. According to network security assessment specialists, an ACL can help determine the appropriate access permissions for any network resources. ACL can also be used to filter out traffic flow in computers, routers and network switches. During our course we teach how any network admin can set rules detailing service ports, domain names, and terminal names along with the ACL permissions. A combination of VLAN and ACL is very good for security and you can easily learn how to configure VLAN ACL’s with the help of network security course.
- Internet Protocol Security (IPsec): The course covers implementation of IPsec for encryption. IPsec is a set of protocols used for secure communications at network and transport layers, both TCP and UDP. IPsec helps in authentication and encryption of data packets. According to network security assessment experts, IPsec is very flexible because it can be used to protect Internet Protocol (IP) and Transport Protocol (TCP, UDP). During the network security training admins can learn to use it with applications that use SSL or TLS. You also learn how to use VPN for critical communications or implementing a complete IPsec solution.
- RADIUS, TFTP: During the network penetration testing phase we teach how to install RADIUS, TFTP servers depending on the business requirements along with any of the aforementioned tools.
- Logging: Establishing logs server or logging tool is a critical part of network security course as it allows you to record all activity on the network. This is very vital factor for tracking any hacking incident & verifying any network security assessment.
- Audit: Establishing an audit process within your company is a very vital step. It ensures configurations of network devices. The first step of any network penetration testing audit is to change the default settings and configurations of switch, router and other network devices. For application security, network security assessment expert advice that you should disable any unused services. Thus you should check the running services and disable or uninstall the service that you are not using.
- Backup: The network security course also helps you establish back up polices and implement the best practices of the industry.
Wifi Security
If you company has a wireless network, it becomes very important to have Wifi security. Our network penetration testing specialists cover the following Wifi security mechanisms during network security course
- WPA2-PSK / WPA3: During a network security assessment its every important to validate the Wifi security. Implementing security in wireless network is somewhat an easy task as compared to Ethernet. However most of companies still configure security keys for wireless networks with Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2-PSK). Recently some network penetration testing experts found vulnerabilities in Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 protocol. These vulnerabilities make your company’s network vulnerable to new threats. Thus our network security course focuses on WPA2 vulnerabilities and how to implement WPA3 encrytion in existing networks. With encryption enabled, no one can connect to your network without the security key, as it’s very difficult to brute force it. This would help prevent attempts of unauthorized access to the network and communications. Penetration testing experts recommend using a really strong security key, so that dictionary attacks cannot crack the password.
- SSID: Default router or access point’s name and password could be a real threat to any Wifi network. Changing default wireless network identifier (SSID) could save companies from lot of wireless threats. During the network security course you learn how to use different network security assessment tools to periodically change the keys, passwords and SSID.
- MAC Filtering: Filtering MAC addresses and allowing WiFi access to known devices is one of the recommendation of network penetration testing experts. Another recommendation is to hide SSID so that its not visible in regular search of available networks.
These are some of the mechanisms covered during the network security training that can be implemented for any wired and wireless network. Our enterprise network security course will teach you the best techniques for doing network security assessment or penetration testing.
With research centers in Mexico, U.S. and India, the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) delivers the best network security course, network penetration testing and network security assessment services. We have a partner program that recognizes the effort and investment of strategic allies, offering network security tools to achieve sustainable and mutually beneficial business. Our partners/partners program is available in Australia, UK, Dubai, Qatar, Sri-Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Nigeria, Kenya & South Africa.