Network Security Bible, 2nd Edition

Chapter 1. State of Network Security

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Understanding the current state of network security

• Determining the key characteristics of cyber security

• Learning why attacks are successful

In order to properly implement security, it's important to understand what we mean by security and problems with the current implementations. At the heart of securing the critical information of organizations are managing and controlling risk. While vulnerabilities are the common exploitation path into an organization, it's important to understand the ever-changing threat in order to make sure an organization focuses its limited resources in the necessary areas.

This chapter describes the formal definition of security and explains why so many attacks are occurring. It also discusses some of the key concepts of security, which you'll need in order to understand the rest of the book. Understanding the threats and vulnerabilities will help an organization properly focus its energy and resources.

Cyber Security

Cyber security is all about understanding, managing, controlling, and mitigating risk to an organization's critical assets. Whether you like it or not, if you work in security you are in the risk-management business. Security is not about firewalls, IDS, or encryption; while these can be used to mitigate risk, the focus is on protecting an organization's information. Therefore, if you work in security, the following are pieces of information you must know in order to start addressing risk: