-: Network hardening, in this section of the course, 2 2
we're going to talk all about network hardening. 3 3
Now, as a network technician, 4 4
part of your job is to help make sure 5 5
our networks are secure by conducting network hardening. 6 6
The term hardening in cybersecurity 7 7
simply means to secure a system 8 8
by reducing its attack surface 9 9
or the surface of vulnerabilities. 10 10
So, if you have a network with all of your ports open, 11 11
you are really vulnerable. 12 12
But on the other hand, 13 13
if you have a network that blocks traffic 14 14
on every single port going outbound or inbound, 15 15
you have an isolated network that isn't very helpful 16 16
or useful to your business. 17 17
So for this reason, we have to find a healthy balance 18 18
between operations and security. 19 19
And the best way to do that, 20 20
is by following a series of best practices 21 21
in order to harden our network devices 22 22
and our clients. 23 23
So in this section, we're going to focus on just one domain 24 24
and one objective. 25 25
We'll be talking specifically about 26 26
domain for network security and focusing on objective 4.3. 27 27
Objective 4.3 states, given a scenario, 28 28
you must apply network hardening techniques, 29 29
which is why this section is called network hardening. 30 30
Now, this includes a lot of best practices 31 31
surrounding patch management for our clients, 32 32
password security for all of our devices, 33 33
shutting down unneeded services, 34 34
increasing network security 35 35
by using port security and VLANs, 36 36
conducting inspections and policing, securing SNMP, 37 37
utilizing access control lists properly, 38 38
ensuring the security of our wireless devices, 39 39
and even taking a look at some of our internet of things 40 40
and the security considerations surrounding those. 41 41
So, let's get started talking all about the different ways 42 42
for us to harden our networks in this section of the course.