Defensive Technologies

ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES you will have to face as a security professional is keeping the environment you are responsible for secure. On the surface, this may not sound like a big challenge, but consider the fact that more threats are emerging every day and at an increasingly rapid rate. More people will be interacting with and using your networks and accessing the resources found there. Also, your network and the infrastructure that it comprises have become more complex with increasing numbers of employees going mobile and using advanced connection techniques such as virtual private networks (VPNs).

All this complexity makes the usability and capability of the environment much greater than it would be otherwise, but it also means that your job of securing and managing the environment is a much more difficult task. Another point to consider is the fact that for all these systems to work together effectively, a certain level of trust must be built into the system, meaning that one system gives a certain level of credibility to another system. These points are things that you must consider to properly protect your complete environment.

Securing your network and infrastructure requires a mix of capabilities and techniques. All the techniques, technologies, and strategies for securing your network and infrastructure can be broken down into two categories: prevention and detection. In the past, quite a bit of effort was focused on the prevention of an attack, but what about those times when a new or unanticipated attack gets through your defenses? Sure, you can prevent an attack by using firewalls, policies, and other means, but there are other things that can help too. That’s where detection comes into play and devices and technologies such as intrusion detection systems and honeypots can assist you.