Response to authors on the subject (adding to concepts discussed not remarks on their writing)

 

Q.  Discuss the current methodologies used to secure wired or wireless networks via current Firewall technologies and the potential exposures that currently exist  

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What are wired and wireless network

Wired networks uses electric pules or light waves within physical cables to facilitate data transfer between devices. Wireless networks uses radio frequencies over air between devices to facilitate data transfer using wireless access points (WAP) and wireless network interface cards (WNIC) .

Wireless network vulnerabilities

1. Packet sniffing

An attacker can connect to a network and phish the content of packets for any valuable information.

2. Man in the middle attack

Attackers can modify the information/data being sent over a network and fool the sender and receiver if the network is vulnerable.

3. Distributed Denial of service attack

Attackers send multiple packets to throttle a network thus disallowing legit users to access network resources.

4. War driving

Attackers drive through an area on a moving vehicle and search for vulnerable networks to attack.

5. Camp out
An attacker can ‘camp out’ at free public wifi networks like cafeteria or restaurants or airports which are usually less secure and attempt to check out data from users by inspecting packets.

 

How does firewall protect a system or a network

Firewall acts a layer of protection that tries to act as a shield to a system or a network thus protecting it from unnecessary traffic or malicious software attacking a system.

Firewalls can be of two types software and hardware.

1. Software firewall: 

In this case a firewall software is installed in a system to protect the system itself against threats from the outside world as well as network access by applications installed on the system. One of the disadvantages for a software firewall is that since its installed on the system itself, it restricts the ability of the software to detect and stop attacks or malicious software outside the system. The other disadvantage is that it is difficult to manage multiple systems in a network since the installed software has to be updated on each system, If even one system is compromised it can have adverse effects on the network itself.

 2. Hardware firewall:

These are physical components that are placed between the system and the network. A disadvantage of having physical hardware is that since it’s a sophisticated device it requires trained professional to make sure that the device is configured correctly and maintained.

 

References  

 Understanding Firewalls for Home and Small Office Use. 

https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/tips/ST04-004

Joe Kelmencic. Basic Security Mechanisms for Wireless Networks. https://community.broadcom.com/symantecenterprise/communities/community-home/librarydocuments/viewdocument?DocumentKey=b362d5fa-e29c-4e2c-add4-8203da7b9ceb&CommunityKey=1ecf5f55-9545-44d6-b0f4-4e4a7f5f5e68&tab=librarydocuments

Firewall is a quintessential feature of cybersecurity architecture that ensures the security of networks, be it wired or wireless. It provides the authority to the administrators to execute access controls between the internal network and the external world.

Today, wireless networks are everywhere and enable the wireless network users to access it from anywhere and anytime. But this freedom comes at a risk, and it also poses high security risks and threats to the network. It’s relatively easier to intercept the communication between the users and the network and the introduction of malicious software. But this could be controlled by using WiFi firewall – these are the servers that have the capacity to observe and sift the WiFi traffic. They are also known as WIPS (Wireless Intrusion Prevention System) that enables security enforcement all through the entire WLAN (wireless LAN).

The wired networks are susceptible too and to protect it, a user/admin can utilize some measures to ensure security. One would be to audit and map the network by clearly recognizing the infrastructure of the network, keeping the network up to date by staying on top of software updates and assessing settings to spot any insecure configuration. MAC address filtering is another approach that avoids the neighbor intrusion if not the hacker intrusion.

Although firewalls can protect the networks, it is also vulnerable to issues such as – insider attacks, any missed security patches if the associated software is not managed properly, any configuration anomalies occurred during the firewall setup and DDoS – Distributed Denial of Service that could cause protracted inability to deliver services. 

References

Firewalls for Security in Wireless Networks U. Murthy1 , O. Bukhres2 , W. Winn2 , E. Vanderdez 3

Jeong, J., Chung, M., & Choo, H. (2006). Secure User Authentication Mechanism in Digital Home Network Environments