An organization is dependent on its computer network for supply of power, for a broad range of tasks from email to surfing, sharing documents, sharing printers, etc. If the network goes down, the entire organization is severely affected.. Not only would it result in a waste of precious time, it can negatively impact the company's productivity in the long run.

The most common factor to blame for the network's inability to function is network security issues.  Minor network security breaches involve an attack on the personal workstation. For example, a workstation may be infested with viruses or spyware, which mostly operate in the background. They usually installl themselves without the user's knowledge or permission ,and perform harmful operations such as hijacking browsers or wiping out valuable hard disk drive data.

However, these breaches pale in comparison to major network security breaches that aim boldly to attack the servers. As the servers are essential for the functioning of the network, the consequences are quite serious, if servers are the target of an attack .Server attacks are termed as "intrusion".


The two breaches discussed above are categorized as passive. The term 'passive' implies that some form of action from the user is necessary for the harmful software to be installed. For instance, the user could have browsed dubious websites, or an individual might have installed a virus accidentally, mistakenly believing that he/she was downloading a game.

Active attacks are deliberately targeted at the network and require no foolishness/carelessness on the user's part. One form of active attack involves repeatedly sending packets of data to a server until the server's speed slows to a crawl, making it effectively useless.

The servers can not process any requests sent to them until, these malicious packets of data are completely blocked. If not, the network will continue to malfunction. This form of attack is known as denial of service (DDOS) attacks.

In order to protect one's network from such attacks, he/she can rely on network security measures.

While, there are many different levels of network security, the challenge for security engineers lies in deciding where to draw the line between protection and the user's inconvenience. How are they   inconvenienced? Security hardware/software sometimes begins to interfere with other application.

A newly installed Firewall program for instance, can pose an obstacle to net access by certain software.

A complete network security program provides hardware and software security, as well as a sound educational program for the users. Also, the users must be trained to know basic safety measures for their network. It is also highly recommended that an organization should consult qualified network security professionals to ensure that they are aware of the various options available, before finalizing a network security plan.

 Remember however, that it is upto users to exercise discretion when surfing various websites, as a Firewall can only be used to block a limited number of suspicious websites.