Developing Computer Networking - Essay Example

Introduction Computer networking has been developed over the years and this has brought many advantages in the today's business society. With computer networks, it is possible to share resources and information. Information can be stored in a common location and this location be put in a network where everyone who can access the network will have the chance to access it and therefore save them the trouble of having to look for that information and carry it using external storage devices. The network also makes it possible to share resources like printers and hard drives. This therefore reduces costs for of having to buy these resources. Proposed client-tier architecture The application architecture that I better and promises better security is that of 3-tier architecture. In this aspect the server will be installed in a data center with the server of the server program. Three-tier architecture has various layers with various functions. 3-tier architecture. The 3-tier client/server architecture was introduced to eradicate the problems that were associated with 2-tier architecture. With this architecture, a middleware lies between the server and the client. They are implemented in several ways, which include implementation as a message server, or application server or processing monitors. The functions of the middleware are queuing, execution of applications, staging of the databases, and prioritization for work in progress (Wegner, & Peter, 2007). This architecture improves performance when the number of users is increased. It has the advantage of flexibility when compared to 2-tier architecture. One of the downsides of this architecture is the fact that the development is more complex than that of 2-tier applications. There are two types of 3-tier architectures 3-tier with message server In this type of 3-tier architecture, the messages are processed and prioritized asynchronously. This is done in such a way that the messages have a header which contains priority information, address and identification number. The message server provides a link to the relational database management system and other sources of data. Messaging systems are good alternatives to wireless infrastructures (Gorit, Dreoh, & Jeri, 2006). This architecture allows the main body of an application to run on a shared host instead on running on the his machine which is already overloaded due to its minimal resources (Rabaugh et al, 2001). The application server shares the sections of the business logic, computational and data retrieval engine. The good thing about this architecture is the fact that applications are scalable compared to 3-tier with message server. Furthermore, the installation costs are less on a single server compared to a situation where maintenance is done on each of the client machines. In the payroll program, the users will be configured so that they can access the server which is installed in a central location. The reason why I prefer this architecture is that one application program will be acquired and the rest will be in the server machine. It will be cheaper. The cost will be reduced in terms of purchasing the software that will be installed. This is because in this case one application software will be purchased which will be installed in the server. Given the many users who are going to use the program, it will mean that the applications would be bought for every user who will be required to use the payroll program. Another cause for reduction of cost is that of maintenance. With this architecture, there will be maintenance of the server machine only. Maintaining one application is easier and cheaper in terms of expertise who will undertake the maintenance (Orfali, Dan, & Jeri, 2006). How to prevent interception There are mitigation strategies that are used to eradicate the risks that are associated with interception attacks. For spoofing and ARP poisoning, one way on which this can be mitigated is by using IP addresses which are static. Also the network administrator should make use of ARP tables which are static. By exploiting CLI commands in UNIX and windows operating systems, the network administrator will know all the IP addresses of all the hosts that are found in the network. For the large networks, the network administrator will be required to have port security features that are available for the switch. Switches should be protected with this approach. One example of a port security feature is to have one MAC address to be associated with each of the physical ports of the switch. This will prevent the attackers from changing the MAC address of their machines. This way, switch security features will have been eradicated as the attackers will not have a chance to change the MAC addresses. The issue of spoofing will also be eradicated with this move. This is because it will be hard for attackers to change the MAC addresses of the computers which are being used (Badenhorst & Ellof 2007). Another mitigation strategy is to have ARP monitoring tool installed in the network. It is important to have network administrators understand what ARP tool will do. With the use of this tool, attacks from ARP poisoning will be avoided. It will make it easier to safeguard the security and the operation of the switches because ARP reporting and replies will be protected (Angell 2007). To prevent phishing and other email security vulnerabilities, organizations should install enterprise level security software in the network. It is advisable that this security software be able to check messages which are going out of the network and also those that are coming into the network. This will prevent messages from transmitting spam from networks that have been compromised (Aceituno 2005). Also, users should be advised to change passwords frequently. This will prevent attackers from using brute force attack and, therefore, making it easier to guess passwords that are used by staff. Users should also be advised to use passwords that are strong. They should not use dictionary words or any combination of their names. Staff should also be trained about the internet security issues so that they are aware of what is going on. Most users are attacked because they are not aware of what is going on. They should be aware that their data and information is company assets and should be well guarded. They should be taught about the importance of having their passwords as their own and not sharing with anyone (Anderson 2001). Host-based firewall is a crucial layer defense that a client can use. It filters any data that are leaving or entering a specific host computer. There are operating systems that have integrated personal firewall such as internet connection firewalls. When activated, it tracks all the data exchange. References Aceituno, V 2005, 'On information security paradigms', ISSA Journal, vol 6, no. 3, pp. 2-34. Anderson, R 2001, Security engineering: A guide to building dependable distributed systems, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Angell, I 2007, 'Computer security in these uncertain times: The need for a new approach', The Tenth World Conference on Computer Security, Audit and Control, London. Badenhorst, K & Ellof, J 2007, 'Computer secutity methodology: Risk analysis and project definition', Computer and Security, vol 8, no. 9, pp. 339-346. Baskerville, R 2008, Designing information systems security, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Read More