Computer Network Security Course Outline

Primary types of security threats facing computer networks; the three broad classes of network security attacks; how a Denial of Service attack can bring down a network; hacker types; hardware security devices; approaches to network security; security resources.

Ring topology; ARCNet, FDDI and token networks; structured cable; horizontal cabling; fire ratings of network cable; how patch panels work; the cable installation process; advantages of a switched network; troubleshooting techniques; recent viruses and worms.

What a firewall does; the four basic types of firewalls; alternative ways to implement a firewall; difference between a NAT and a proxy server; popular brands of firewalls; available services that firewalls offer.

How intrusion detection systems work; popular IDS strategies; trapping hackers with a 'honey pot'; history of encryption; types of encryption; decryption technologies.

Encapsulation; how a VPN works; encryption protocols for VPN; IPSEC; creating users and groups in Windows 2003; the password policy; securing the registry of a Windows server; how to start and shut down computer services; encrypting files on a Windows computer; security templates.

How a virus spreads; well-known viruses, worms and virus hoaxes; virus scanning technologies; how to react to a network that is plagued by a virus; identifying a Trojan horse; the negative impact of spyware and adware on computers and how to alleviate these threats; anti-spyware applications.

The components of a good user security policy; the makeup of a proper system administration policy and consequences of non-adherence; access control; the fundamentals of evaluating and assessing a network from a security point of view; how to probe a network for security weaknesses; documenting security evaluations.

FCC brands that are reserved for wireless LANs; assigned compliance specifications of the 802.11 standards and supplements; BBS vs IBBS; active and passive scanning; authentication and association; client station roaming across multiple access points; compensated wireless traffic for stations in power saving mode.

Criteria for evaluating a network design; six steps to ensuring security in a new network; the purpose, role and elements of a well-designed security policy; why security policies sometimes don't work in organizations.

Advantages and disadvantages of server-based content filtering, client-based content filtering and gateway content filtering; implementing web content filtering; email, spam and virus filtering; multi-homed vs. dual firewalls; securing a network perimeter.

How to integrate VLANs into a network's security structure; modular components of an enterprise network design; reviewing security policy; performing a security audit; tools and utilities utilized in a security audit; justifying the cost of security.

Seven key tasks that every administrator needs to implement on day one; how and why to segment a network; best practices for segmenting a network; how firewalls and VLANs contribute to network segmentation.

Today's key cryptography choices; types of data that require encryption; encrypting databases; the points at which encryption takes place; encryption standards; IPSec; criteria for selecting an authentication method; using encryption to protect Internet traffic.