Network security is usually understood as a set of policies and measures that are used to ensure the health and resilience of an enterprise’s network infrastructure. Another important function is to protect the network from intruders and unauthorised access to data. Network infrastructure of any scale involves the use of hardware and software solutions to implement network security policies and measures.
There are several important principles of network security design:
- Network defence and redundancy of critical equipment. Protection tools usually include both software and hardware solutions, such as anti-virus software and firewalls. Equipment must be fault-tolerant, so reserves are allocated for critical elements and nodes.
- Regular monitoring of the network and traffic channels. Network infrastructure monitoring is performed to detect vulnerabilities and collect detailed information about the operation of each equipment integrated into the network. Network traffic is monitored to detect the actions of intruders and to balance the load on network nodes and components.
- Organisation of parallel infrastructure operation. Network segments must ensure high availability of the infrastructure even in case of accidents, cyberattacks and natural disasters. For this purpose, large companies create parallel infrastructure that duplicates the work of the main infrastructure and is activated in case of incidents in the main system.