You have only to turn on your television set for the nightly news to see just how vulnerable the world’s computer systems seem to be. Newscasts regularly report on the latest cyber assaults on various computer networks around the planet, as bored hackers, computer criminals and cyber-terrorists continually exploit weaknesses in the security systems of those networks. These network security threats pose a substantial risk to anyone who regularly uses a computer, but the threat is particularly severe in the areas of government and private industry. Identifying and preparing against these pervasive network security threats is one of the most pressing security challenges of our time.

There are two types of recognized network security threats. The first is the so-called logic attack, and involves attempts to take advantage of already existing areas of vulnerability within various software programs. These attacks are generally done with the goal of bringing a computer system to a crashing halt, or to forcible gain entry into a system – for purposes ranging from cyber vandalism to data theft. The well known death ping is one clear example of this type of threat. The ping floods a network with Internet Control Message Protocol packets that attempt to overwhelm the system.

The second type of these network security threats involves attacks on resources. Resource attacks involve sending a host of IP packets or other data for the purpose of exceeding the capabilities of a computer’s important resources like the central processing unit or the RAM. On a broader scale, resource focused network security threats can involve the hijacking of multiple systems at once, which are subsequently infected with the attacker’s viral code and made to serve as zombie machines from which the attacker can assault a single system. This multi-unit attack is then used to overwhelm one lone computer system’s resources.

Protecting the sanctity of the data on your network is important no matter how large or small that network is. The most important thing that you can do, apart from hiring an IT security expert, is to familiarize yourself with the already existing capabilities of your network. Every network has at least a minimum level of capability to guard against the most common network security threats. Until you know what your network’s capabilities are, any security measures you implement may be superfluous.

Develop a plan within your organization to ensure that everyone who utilizes your network know what the protocols are and follows them to a tee. There are far too many occasions when a single person within your network structure can open the wrong email attachment or download a file from the internet, exposing your entire network to any Trojan horses that have been sent to your network gates to try to trick you into opening the doors to their malicious code.

To fully protect against network security threats, you will ultimately need to combine your network protocols with security software that limits opportunities for hackers to penetrate your network. As distasteful as it may be to expend valuable man hours and resources protecting yourself from these threats, those who would steal or destroy your data leave you with little choice.