Summary

8 IT Essentials: PC Harware and Software Companion GuideAfter completing the following sections, you will meet these objectives:■■■Describe and compare security techniquesDescribe and compare access control devicesDescribe and compare firewall typesDescribe and Compare Security TechniquesA technician should determine the appropriate techniques to secure equipment and data forthe customer. Depending on the situation, more than one technique might be required. Thesections that follow describe the different techniques to secure equipment and data.PasswordsUsing secure, encrypted login information for computers with network access should be aminimum requirement in any organization. Malicious software monitors the network andcan record plain-text passwords. If passwords are encrypted, attackers would have to decodethe encryption to learn the passwords.TipAs covered in Chapter 9, “Fundamental Security,” a strong password should contain a mixture ofnumbers, special characters, and uppercase and lowercase letters and have a minimum number ofeight characters total.Logging and AuditingEvent logging and auditing should be enabled to monitor activity on the network. The networkadministrator audits the log file of events to investigate network access by unauthorizedusers.Wireless ConfigurationsWireless connections are especially vulnerable to access by attackers. Wireless clientsshould be configured to encrypt data.EncryptionEncryption technologies are used to encode data being transmitted on a network.Hash encoding, or hashing, ensures that messages are not corrupted or tampered with duringtransmission. Hashing uses a mathematical function to create a numeric value that isunique to the data. If even one character is changed, the function output, called the messagedigest, will not be the same. However, the function is one-way. Knowing the message digestdoes not allow an attacker to re-create the message. This makes it difficult for someone to