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Network Security – Does It Matter If I’m In The Cloud?

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network-security-in-the-cloudJeremy here again with another post for you this week. Today, we will be covering security. Namely, network security. Now, if I ask you, what exactly is network security, what would your answer be? If you’ve been in the hosting industry or Information Technology field for extended period time, you have no issue answering that question. However, for most readers, they may not be 100% certain on what exactly a network is and how it affects your hosting. For this article, lets first start with what exactly a network is in terms of your website and then we will get into securing that network so without further ado…

 

What is a network?

 

If you’re reading this article, more than likely, you’re on a computer connected to the internet. The computer that you’re reading this article on is more than likely in a local network. Before we get too carried away, lets define what a local network is. Directly from our friends over at Wikipedia:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network

 

A local area network is a computer network that connects computers within a limited range such as homes, schools, libraries or office building. To ground the idea further in your mind, lets say that you have purchased a desktop PC, a laptop and have a cellphone from your local electronics store. You also purchased a router as well. Your router is a piece of networking technology that creates a local area network for your home and then allows you to connect to the internet. When your devices connect to the router, it places them into a local area network. This allows the devices to communicate with one another. It also allows them to communicate with the rest of the world via the internet.

 

You have different types of networks such as a WAN or Wide Area Network. This network is a much larger type and usually covers broad areas such as a college campus or metropolitan area. Now you may be asking, what does this have to do with my website? Well, glad you asked. You see, when you purchase hosting from Turnkey Internet, you’re paying to host your site on our network. This is what people generally mean when they purchase hosting. They are paying a provider to be included in their network and give their website a home.

 

As you have already gathered, if something was to go wrong with the network, your site may go off-line. This leads us to our next topic

 

Why do I need to secure my network?

 

If you are hosting in the cloud – you still connect over your network.  While cloud hosting from Turnkey Internet lets your be assured that your site is on a network that has multiple layers of network security, however, this article isn’t about securing our network at Turnkey Internet, but how you can take some preventative steps to secure your own network. Maybe you have a dedicated server and you’re managing the server yourself. Knowing how to secure the network your server is located on goes a LONG way to ensure you’re providing your customers with a top notch website.

 

You may thinking, well what do I need to protect my network from? Many network security threats spread over the internet with most common including:

 

  • Viruses, worms and Trojan horses
  • Spyware and Adware
  • Zero-day attacks
  • Hacker attacks
  • Denial of service attacks
  • Data interception and theft
  • Identity theft

 

While this is no way an all inclusive list, those items listed above are the most common type of network threats you will find on the internet. Now some of those attacks have to be mitigated at network level such as Denial of Service attacks. You can read about denial of service attacks below:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack

 

Some of the other network attacks you can help mitigate at a server level which you can read about below

 

How do I secure my network?

 

In order to truly secure your network, you must understand that there is no one single solution that will protect you from every threat listed above. In fact, a highly secure network has multiple layers of security. If one layer fails, another layer just takes its place. Network security is best accomplished through hardware and software.  The software should be updated in regular intervals to ensure that you’re running the most up to date version. Ideally, a network security system will contain many parts with all parts working together.  This helps to ensure maximum security and minimize maintenance and improve security.

 

Your most common type of network components are listed below:

 

  • Anti-virus software
  • Malware detection
  • Firewall that blocks unauthorized access
  • Intrusion prevention systems that will identify fast spreading threats such as a zero day attack
  • Virtual private networks(VPN) setup to provide secure remote access

 

If you have a few or all of those components working together, you will help ensure your network remains stable. Effective network security targets a variety of threats and stops them from entering or spreading through your network. This will protect the usability, reliability, integrity and safety of your network and data.

 

Here at Turnkey Internet, we have multiple layers of network security. From our DDOS protection system which monitors our entire network and instantly notifies us of a DDOS attack. We also install and configure firewalls on all of our shared servers. We run daily malware detection scans as well as constantly update software to ensure we’re protected from the latest threats. Doing these things helps us to provide a secure and reliable network for all our customers. It may be time you invested in your own network security.

 

Until next time…


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