Bellgigs
Bridging Skills and Opportunities

A strong password policy should enforce minimum password length, complexity requirements (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols), password history, and regular password changes. It should also educate users on the importance of strong passwords and provide guidance on creating and remembering them.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires users to provide multiple authentication factors (e.g., password, biometric scan, security token) to verify their identity. Its important because it significantly increases security by making it much harder for attackers to gain unauthorized access to accounts, even if they have stolen a password.

Network Security Administrators play a crucial role by implementing security controls to protect sensitive data, ensuring data confidentiality and integrity, and complying with the technical requirements of data privacy regulations.

Best practices include using strong encryption (WPA3), changing default passwords, disabling SSID broadcasting, enabling MAC address filtering, and implementing a guest network for visitors.

Protection involves user education and awareness training, implementing email security solutions (spam filters, anti-phishing tools), using multi-factor authentication (MFA), and verifying the legitimacy of suspicious emails or links before clicking on them.

Regular security audits help identify weaknesses in security controls, ensure compliance with regulations, and assess the effectiveness of security measures. They provide valuable insights for improving security posture and mitigating risks.

Incident response involves a structured approach to handling security incidents, including identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned. Its crucial to have a well-defined incident response plan in place to minimize damage, restore services, and prevent future incidents.

Penetration testing is a simulated cyberattack on a system or network to evaluate its security. Unlike vulnerability scanning, which identifies potential weaknesses, penetration testing actively exploits vulnerabilities to determine the extent of the damage an attacker could cause.

Staying up-to-date requires continuous learning through security blogs, industry publications, attending conferences, participating in online forums, and monitoring security advisories from vendors and security organizations.

The principle of least privilege (PoLP) states that users should only be granted the minimum level of access necessary to perform their job duties. This helps to reduce the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches by limiting the potential damage that a compromised account can cause.

Network segmentation involves dividing a network into smaller, isolated segments or zones. Its important because it limits the impact of a security breach by preventing attackers from moving laterally across the entire network. It also improves network performance and simplifies security management.

A SIEM system collects and analyzes security logs and event data from various sources across the network to provide real-time monitoring, threat detection, and incident response capabilities. It helps security teams identify and investigate suspicious activities and respond to security incidents more effectively.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a secure, encrypted connection over a less secure network, such as the internet. It enhances network security by protecting data confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity during transmission, allowing users to access network resources remotely in a secure manner.

Vulnerability scanning involves using specialized tools (e.g., Nessus, OpenVAS) to identify known vulnerabilities in systems and applications on the network. The scan reports highlight potential weaknesses that can be exploited by attackers, allowing administrators to prioritize patching and remediation efforts.

Highly recommended certifications include CompTIA Security+, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Cisco Certified Network Associate Security (CCNA Security), and GIAC certifications (e.g., GSEC, GCIA, GCIH).

A firewall is a network security device that monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic and decides whether to allow or block specific traffic based on a defined set of security rules. It acts as a barrier between a trusted internal network and untrusted external networks, such as the internet.

An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) detects malicious activity or policy violations within a network and alerts administrators. An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) performs the same functions as an IDS but also takes automated action to block or prevent detected intrusions.

Common threats include malware (viruses, worms, Trojans, ransomware), phishing attacks, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and zero-day exploits.

Network Security Administrators are responsible for planning, implementing, upgrading, and monitoring security measures for the protection of computer networks and information. This includes tasks like configuring firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, VPNs, and conducting security audits.

Key skills include a strong understanding of networking concepts (TCP/IP, OSI model), operating systems (Windows, Linux), security protocols (SSL/TLS, IPSec), intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), firewalls, vulnerability scanning, risk assessment, and incident response.

Network security administrators design and install a network security policy across the network.

Explain with examples that sync with the job description.

List of the different types of computer networks:

- Local Area Network (LAN)

- Wide Area Network (WAN)

- Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)

- Storage Area Network (SAN)

- Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Network Monitoring Tools and Software:

- SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor.

- Datadog Network Monitoring.

- ManageEngine OpManager.

- PRTG Network Monitor from Paessler.

- Site24x7 Network Monitoring.

Internet Protocol (IP) - Originally, TCP/IP is the most common protocol that connects the networks. The IP protocol addresses communication in packets and helps in routing through different nodes in a network until it reaches the destination system.

Within the network a computer can communicate with other computers that are interconnected with an Ethernet or a switch in the same network. The Ethernet cable is a common medium for every computer in the network.

There are three types of network cables; coaxial, twisted-pair, and fiber-optic.

Network: A computer network comprises two or more computers that are connected—either by cables (wired) or WiFi (wireless)—with the purpose of transmitting, exchanging, or sharing data and resources.

DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration P

The fundamental distinction between workgroups and domains is how network resources are managed. Computers on home networks are usually assigned to a workgroup, while computers at work are allocated to a domain.

The local machine is defined as localhost, which gives it an IP address of 127.0. 0.1. This is known as loopback address because the information sent to it is routed back to the local machine.

There are three modes of transmission, namely: simplex, half duplex, and full duplex.

Network administrators are in charge of keeping computer networks running smoothly and resolving any issues that may arise. Installing and configuring computer networks and systems are typical employment tasks. Identifying and resolving computer network and system issues.

Network engineers design and implement network configurations, troubleshoot performance issues, carry out network monitoring and configure security systems.

Explain with examples that sync with the job description.

List of the different types of computer networks:

Local Area Network (LAN)

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)

Storage Area Network (SAN)

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Network Monitoring Tools and Software:

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor.

Datadog Network Monitoring.

ManageEngine OpManager.

PRTG Network Monitor from Paessler.

Site24x7 Network Monitoring.

Nagios XI.

Zabbix.

Icinga.

Internet Protocol (IP) Originally, TCP/IP is the most common protocol that connects the networks. The IP protocol addresses communication in packets and helps in routing through different nodes in a network until it reaches the destination system.

Within the network a computer can communicate with other computers that are interconnected with an Ethernet or a switch in the same network. The Ethernet cable is a common medium for every computer in the network.

There are three types of network cables; coaxial, twistedpair, and fiberoptic.

Network: A computer network comprises two or more computers that are connected—either by cables (wired) or WiFi (wireless)—with the purpose of transmitting, exchanging, or sharing data and resources.

DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a client/server protocol that automatically provides an Internet Protocol (IP) host with its IP address and other related configuration information such as the subnet mask and default gateway.

Network Interface Card: It is used to connect different networking devices such as computers and servers to share data over the connected network.

Decoder: Decoder recovers the original information signal from the coded bits.

Encoder: Encoder circuit basically converts the applied information signal into a coded digital bit stream.

Node: Any system or device connected to a network is also called a node.

Static IP and Dynamic IP: When a device is assigned a static IP address, the address does not change. Most devices use dynamic IP addresses, which are assigned by the network when they connect and change over time.

Brouter: brouter is a network device that works as a bridge and as a router. The brouter routes packets for known protocols and simply forwards all other packets as a bridge would. Brouters operate at both the network layer for routable protocols and at the data link layer for nonroutable protocols.

Piggybacking: In twoway communication, whenever a frame is received, the receiver waits and does not send the control frame (acknowledgement or ACK) back to the sender immediately. The receiver waits until its network layer passes in the next data packet. The delayed acknowledgement is then attached to this outgoing data frame. This technique of temporarily delaying the acknowledgement so that it can be hooked with next outgoing data frame is known as piggybacking.

Network Topology: Network topology is the topological structure of a network and may be depicted physically or logically. Network topology can be used to define or describe the arrangement of various types of networks,

Routers: A router receives and sends data on computer networks. It routes network packets, based on their addresses, to other networks or devices.

OSI reference model: The Open Systems Interconnection model is a conceptual model that characterises and standardises the communication functions of a telecommunication or computing system without regard to its underlying internal structure and technology. The OSI model characterizes computing functions into a universal set of rules and requirements in order to support interoperability between different products and software.

SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behavior.

Hub: A hub is a physical layer networking device which is used to connect multiple devices in a network.

Switch: A switch is a device in a computer network that connects other devices together. Multiple data cables are plugged into a switch to enable communication between different networked devices.

Data Encapsulation: Data encapsulation is the process of adding extra information to a data item in order to enhance its functionality. We use either the OSI or the TCP/IP model in our network.

VPN: VPN stands for \"Virtual Private Network\" and describes the opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks. VPNs encrypt your internet traffic and disguise your online identity.

ipconfig: ipconfig stands for Internet Protocol Configuration. This command is used to view all the current TCP/IP network configurations values of the computer.

ifconfig: ifconfig is a system administration utility in Unixlike operating systems for network interface configuration.

TCP/IP Model: The Internet protocol suite is the conceptual model and set of communications protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks. It is commonly known as TCP/IP because the foundational protocols in the suite are the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol.

IP classes: TCP/IP defines five classes of IP addresses: Each class uses the 32bit IP address space differently, providing more or fewer bits for the network part of the address. The value of the first octet determines the class.

HTTP: The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an applicationlevel protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems.

HTTPs: HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is the protocol where encrypted HTTP data is transferred over a secure connection.

UDP: User datagram protocol (UDP) operates on top of the Internet Protocol (IP) to transmit datagrams over a network.

Proxy Server: A proxy server is essentially  a computer on the internet with its own IP address that your computer knows.

Firewall: A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.

DNS: The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and decentralized naming system for computers, services, or other resources connected to the Internet or a private network.

The fundamental distinction between workgroups and domains is how network resources are managed. Computers on home networks are usually assigned to a workgroup, while computers at work are allocated to a domain.

The local machine is defined as localhost, which gives it an IP address of 127.0. 0.1. This is known as loopback address because the information sent to it is routed back to the local machine.

There are three modes of transmission, namely: simplex, half duplex, and full duplex.