Network Security Provider

2. Network Security Enforcement

Most definitions of network security are narrowed to the enforcement mechanism. Enforcement concerns analyzing all network traffic flows and should aim to preserve the confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of all systems and information on the network. Strong enforcement strives to provides CIA to network traffic flows. This begins with a classification of traffic flows by application, user and content. As the vehicle for content, all applications must first be identified by the firewall regardless of port, protocol, evasive tactics or SSL. Proper application identification provides full visibility into the content it carries. Policy management can be simplified by identifying applications and mapping their use to a user identity while inspecting the content always for the preservation of CIA.

The concept of defense in depth is observed as a best practice in network security, prescribing for the network to be secured in layers. These layers apply an assortment of security controls to sift out threats trying to enter the network: access control, identification, authentication, malware detection, encryption, file type filtering, URL filtering, and content filtering. These layers are built through the deployment of firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPS) and antivirus components. Among the components for enforcement, the firewall (an access control mechanism) is the foundation of network security.

Additional services for layering network security to implement a defense-in-depth strategy have been incorporated to the traditional model as add-on components. Intrusion prevention systems (IPS) and antivirus, for example, are effective tools for scanning content and preventing malware attacks. However, organizations must be cautious of the complexity and cost that additional components may add to its network security and, more importantly, not depend on these additional components to do the core job of the firewall.