Network Security - a must to organisations
Written by Albert Chinamano
In the last decade, the number of computers in use has exploded.
For quite some time now, computers have been a crucial element
in how we entertain and educate ourselves, and most importantly,
how we do business. It seems obvious in retrospect that a
natural result of the explosive growth in computer use, would
be an even more explosive growth in the desire and need for
computers to talk with each other.
Between 1994 and 1999, Telecommunications infrastructure
companies deployed a traditional network model to support
the evolution and expansion of the Internet. And as we created
the infrastructure, we forgot the.htmlect of security. However
widespread adoption of the network, with unparalleled human
intellectual resource, has now created a situation wherein
we cannot trust the infrastructure that cannot support the
emerging network security threats.
But meeting infrastructure is not enough. In an illustration
of the critical distinction between old model telecommunications
and new model communications, the infrastructure must be in
place and supported by the security measures. It is no longer
a case of capacity and performance, but performance with total
peace of mind.
Businesses, governments and individuals communicating with
each other across the world- who would have thought this would
happen? While reality is rapidly approaching this utopian
picture, several relatively minor issues have changed status
from low priority to extreme importance. Security is probably
the most well known of these problems. When businesses send
private information across the net, they place a high value
on it getting to its destination intact and without being
intercepted by someone other than the intended recipient.
Individuals sending private communications obviously desire
secure communications. Finally, connecting a system to a network
can open the system itself up to attacks. If a system is compromised,
the risk of data loss is high.
Organizations should make it a must to focus on creating
a networked solution that will enable a society that can communicate
easily, effectively and efficiently. We put emphasis on the
needs of the people who we are serving. Technology is but
a basic need in our sector. You have to keep abreast with
security developments if you are going to survive.
The financial sector, because of the nature of its business,
usually tends to be conservative. There is need for a lot
of secrecy and confidentiality as they handle the normally
‘sensitive’ issues of our lives, our finances. As
such they need not only the best networks in terms of speed,
performance and reliability, but the safest as well. Zimbabwe
telecom providers must make it a must to provide safe networking
environments to this sector, and the market at large. Network
security is critical due to the magnitude of losses that can
be suffered because of its absence.
Network security is not only for Internet it is be for all
networking solutions ranging from local area networks, metropolitan
area networks to wide area networks. Whether you are in the
same building or across continents, if you have your computers
talking non-stop they are prone to security threats, hence
the need for security. The Zimbabwean market has been starved
of bandwidth and after recent regulatory developments, there
are some players, like Africom, who we have seen laying infrastructure
in the city centre, in an effort to offer bandwidth and become
a one-stop shop for telecommunications, as they do so they
should make it a requirement to have network security on their
solutions.
Our telecom industry is growing and there is huge demand
for service, organisations should demand for on network security
due to its importance and the magnitude of losses that can
be suffered because of its absence
As the world continually interacts and corporations expand
their mission-critical applications, network security is becoming
increasingly vital in preventing corruption, intrusion and
eliminating network security vulnerabilities. There is a need
to have network security to prevent major security breaches,
resulting in serious damages or loss of data. Network security
encompasses many.htmlects of information technology. It starts
with administration policies for user passwords to securing
sensitive and proprietary data within the network, to the
implementation and auditing of the solution for performance
purposes.
Network security is not password only; there are other security
technology products like Firewalls, Virtual Private Networks
and Intrusion, offering security solutions. These are some
of the widely used technology products in this regard to provide
total security packages that are able meet the unique demands
of individual corporate companies.
Organisations should make sure that they have a solution,
and implement the network security solution using appropriate
network technologies and above all continuously monitor and
audit the network on a regular basis to make sure that the
security solution is being enforced and adhered to with no
irregularities being developed as the life of the network
evolves.
Network and IT Managers’ objective is to implement security
infrastructure that allows sufficient protection without severely
compromising the need for quick and easy access to information.
Due to overwhelming response on e-learning, for the next
coming two to three weeks we will focus on e-learning as it
has attracted attention from the stakeholders, for comments
for these and other issues email me on chinamanoa@afri-com.com
Private Limited shall not be held responsible of any decisions
made based on the information.
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