Emerging Cybersecurity Technologies you should know for Business

Technology is progressing day by day. On the bright side, it paves way for advancement in business strategies and helps to solve complex tasks. But hackers are ahead of the technologies and use smart and sophisticated approaches to steal data.

Thus keeping the security technologies in your company updated is very crucial.

Cybersecurity technologies aim to keep the organization safe and away from the reach of attackers. It detects, prevents, and solves day-to-day security attacks faced by a business.

Cyber Security Technologies

Various Cyber Security technologies covered are listed below.

• Firewall
• VPN
• Intrusion Detection System and Intrusion Prevention System
• Access Control
• Data Loss Prevention
• Security Incident and Event Management
• Antivirus

Let us discuss them in detail.

1. Firewall

A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on an organization’s predetermined security policies. The job of a firewall is to act as a barrier between a trusted private network and an untrusted public internet. It prevents unauthorized access to private networks connected to the internet.

There are 4 categories of firewalls:

a. Processing mode

The five processing modes are

i. Packet filtering

Firewall installed on the TCP/IP network examines header information of data packets. If the packet satisfies the security criterion it moves to the next network connection. The firewall in this mode works with IP source/destination address, Direction(inbound/outbound), TCP/UDP, port requests.

Packet filtering firewalls are of 3 types:

• Static filtering – The filtering happens based on rules set by the system admin.
• Dynamic filtering – The firewall sets some rules for itself. For example, it drops packets from an address that is sending many bad packets.
• Stateful inspection – The firewall keeps track of each network connection, using a state table.

ii. Application gateways

It is a firewall proxy installed on a dedicated computer to secure a network. It acts as a middleman between the requester and the protected device. Filtering incoming traffic helps in achieving the same. FTP, telnet, real-time streaming protocol (RTSP), BitTorrent are examples of application gateways.

iii. Circuit gateways

This firewall provides UDP and TCP connection security at the transport layer. It can inspect, reassemble or drop packets if required. It tracks packet handshaking and session fulfillment activities.

iv. MAC layer firewalls

This operates at the media access control layer of the OSI model. It tracks the computer’s identity and the types of packets routed to that node. It filters traffic and checks the MAC address of the requesting node for authorization.

v. Hybrid firewalls

It is a mix of the other four types of firewalls. They combine functionalities of packet filtering, proxy services, or circuit gateways.

b. Development Era

There are 5 generations of the firewall as listed below

i. First Generation

It is the simplest and cheapest firewall. They perform static packet filtering, which checks each packet entering or leaving the node. Packets that don’t satisfy the predefined security checks can’t enter the node.

ii. Second Generation

They employ proxy servers operating at the application level. They sit between our private network and the internet and perform security inspections. The proxy server decides which IP packet should proceed and which should not.

iii. Third Generation

The arrival of stateful inspection firewalls was to satisfy sophisticated security with minimal impact on network performance. The boom of new technologies like VPNs, wireless communication, and enhanced virus protection demands third-gen firewalls.

iv. Fourth Generation

Dynamic packet filtering helps in monitoring the state of active connections. It determines which packets should pass through the firewall. Recording IP addresses and port numbers provide tight security.

v. Fifth Generation

Kernel proxy firewall being the most advanced firewall operates at the application layer of Windows NT Executive. Virtual stack table stores information of moving packets for investigation of data at each layer of the stack. Since all evaluation takes place at the kernel layer this is the fastest firewall.

c. Intended Deployment Structure

Based on the structure, firewalls are of 3 types:

i. Commercial Appliances

The firewall software runs on a computer with a custom operating system. These commercial firewalls are very complex and protect a medium-to-large scale business.

ii. Small Office Home Office

The SOHO Firewall is perfect for small home office networks. It operates with limited resources and is cost-efficient. It protects the LAN with a security strategy and connects it with an internetworking device.

iii. Residential Software

These combine firewall services with antivirus or intrusion detection and are directly installed on a user’s system. They provide limited configuration and protection.

d. Architectural Implementation

Architectural implementation depends on the network objectives, level of implementation, and budget. Firewalls have 5 types of architectural implementations:

i. Packet-filtering routers

They provide access control by monitoring the outgoing and incoming packets. The transmitting packet that satisfies predefined rules is identified as secure and others as erroneous. Secure packets are let through the network while others are dropped.

ii. Screened Host firewalls

It integrates a packet-filtering router with a dedicated firewall. The network interface helps the router to pre-screen packets to reduce the load on network traffic. It makes sure dangerous protocols do not reach the site systems.

iii. dual-homed host firewalls

Dual-homed host computers have at least two NICs. One NIC for external network connection and another for the internal network.

The additional layer of protection forces the traffic to pass through the firewall to move to the external network. This architecture implements NAT that maps the IP address to internal IPs creating a barrier for external intruders.

iv. Screened Subnet Firewalls

An extra layer called the perimeter network helps in isolating the internal network from the Internet.

Two screening routers are connected to the perimeter net. One is an intermediate between the perimeter network and the internal network. The other router mediates the perimeter network and the external network.

The attacker has to get past both the routers to reach the internal network.

2. VPN

A virtual private network(VPN) is a technology that encrypts our devices before entering the internet. The VPN disguises your IP address on the internet, making your location invisible to everyone. This is done by moving your data traffic in an encrypted network tunnel.

It prevents unauthorized access to our private network and prevents eavesdropping. VPNs help remote users to download files from a site that is geographically restricted.

3. Intrusion Detection System and Intrusion Prevention System

An IDS monitors and analyses network traffic for potential attacks from criminals or insiders. The job of an intrusion detection system is to alert the system administrator when someone tries to break into the security firewall and tries to access confidential data.

There are 4 types of Intrusion Detection System:

a. NIDS

Network Intrusion Detection System monitors the traffic flowing in and out from all the devices connected in the network.

b. HIDS

Host Intrusion Detection System is installed in all nodes on the enterprise that has access to the internet. It detects rogue network packets coming from the organization or malicious third party that a NIDS has failed to handle.

c. Signature-based Intrusion Detection System

A signature-based Intrusion Detection System looks for doubtful patterns, such as byte sequences or malicious intrusion from malware. It may not be able to detect attacks with no pattern.

d. Anomaly-based Intrusion Detection System

An anomaly-based Intrusion Detection System identifies and isolates unknown attacks and alerts the system and admin for potential malicious activity. This is done by comparing the network traffic with an established baseline.

4. Access Control

Access control is a security technique that selectively restricts access to a system based on the privileges assigned to each object. It demands authorization and authentication to verify the user credentials before granting access permission. This helps in preventing unauthorized access to business crucial information.

There are 2 types of access control :

a. Physical Access Control

Restricts outsiders from accessing the buildings, rooms, and physical IT assets.

b. Logical access control

Control access limits to computer networks, files, and data.

5. Data Loss Prevention

Data loss prevention (DLP) is a set of tools and processes used to improve information security and protect business information from data breaches.

It tracks the data moving out of the enterprise and classifies them as regulated, confidential, and business-critical data. It identifies violations of policies and prevents the user from moving business crucial information outside the network.

6. Security Incident and Event Management

Combines functions of Security Information Management (SIM) and Security Event Management (SEM) to provide real-time analysis of security alerts. They study patterns of events to detect any potential malicious incidents or behaviors.

This is achieved by maintaining a log of event data generated by an organization’s applications, security devices, and host systems and collaborating it into a single centralized platform.

7. Antivirus

It is an application software developed to scan for viruses in a user’s computer or mobile. Anti-virus software monitors the web pages, files, software, applications entering into your devices from the internet. If it identifies any threat while scanning it blocks the source and alerts the user of suspicious behavior.

Emerging technologies for Cybersecurity

1. Behavioral Analytics

Behavioral Analytics employs data mining techniques to derive insights and leads on the behaviors of the users. It helps in identifying the potential crime patterns from the customer base.

2. Artificial Intelligence & Deep Learning

Artificial Intelligence learns user patterns and is used in user authentication. Deep learning is popularly recognized for its analyzing capability and provides real-time information like transaction logs to identify any unwarranted activities.

3. Embedded Hardware Authentication

It is a peripheral authentication system that resides in the host OS. It is a dedicated embedded chip that is used to authenticate the user in addition to pin and passcode.

4. Blockchain Cybersecurity

Blockchain cybersecurity uses a decentralized system for data storage. It protects data between the two transaction parties by implementing cryptographic key-vaulting systems. Blockchain creates a near-impenetrable network which makes it almost impossible for hackers to enter.

5. VDN (Virtual Dispersive Networking)

Virtual Dispersive Networking (VDN) protects the data from man-in-the-middle attacks. It divides the data into different segments and encrypts them individually. The segments of the message are fed to the computer.

Hackers cannot gather any useful information from encrypted pieces of data thus surpassing MIM attacks.

Summary

We saw the different security technologies that are being used by organizations to protect their valuable data and system resources. They are Firewall, VPN, intrusion detection system and intrusion prevention system, access control, data loss prevention, security incident and event management, antivirus.