Introduction to Network Security

Topic 2: Network Security Build on the fundamentals by exploring how to protect networks from a wide array of attacks. Core Network Security: - Understand the main objectives of network security, revolving around Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks: - Get a clear definition of a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, where legitimate users are prevented from accessing resources. - Learn how the attack surface extends across network layers, with examples like ICMP Ping Floods and TCP-SYN Flood attacks. - Understand the critical difference between a DoS and a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Botnets in Detail: - Learn how attackers create botnets by infecting machines with malware and using a control server to launch coordinated DDoS attacks. - Includes a case study on the Mirai IoT botnet, explaining its core modules (Attack, Kill, Scan) and why insecure Internet of Things (IoT) devices are a major risk. Wireless Security: - Review the history of WiFi security standards, from the weak WEP protocol to the more secure WPA and WPA2. - Learn about specific WEP vulnerabilities like weak encryption, dictionary attacks, and the FMS attack. Network Defence: - Discover your first line of defense: Firewalls. Differentiate between Stateless, Stateful, and Proxy firewalls. - Explore Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and how they use pattern recognition and AI to detect abnormal usage, as well as the challenges of false positives and false negatives. Includes 5 practice assignments with answers covering network objectives, DoS attacks, IoT, wireless standards, and firewalls.