What is network security?
On top of my head and based on my personal experience it is about securing your network location and data in transit.
Based on my definition above there are 2 areas of interest you need to secure.
- Network location - securing this requires some sort of firewall, now a days they call it NextGen Firewall, UTM, ASA, etc.. Full pack with features like IDS/IPS, Deep packet inspection, Anti Virus, SSL acceleration(watch out for this) load balancing, High Availability, etc...
- Data in transit - Securing requires applied crytography knowledge like TLS/IPsec and SSH and WireGuard(no rfc name but uses modern cryptography)
On top of the items I listed, you will also need know AAA, Authentication, Authorization and Accounting
Authentication - Check for valid user credentials
Authorization - Check if user is allowed to access your resources
Accounting - Track user activity
If you combine all requirements above, you could achieve the CIA security model which is somewhat proof you are highly secured.
These are the items you need to learn in order to implement Network Security. You may see this stuff on some cyber security certification materials but it does not mean certified people are experts(most of them are fake experts).
There is also a new kid in the block called SecOps, which is a team of mostly certified security professionals dedicated to threat hunting and threat intelligence for SIEM operations.
On my next blog, We will go in depth on each required topic for you to become a true network security junkie!
