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Written by CCIE9277
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Friday, 10 February 2006 |
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The term VPN is very popular in the IT world today and it gets thrown around quite often as a method interconnecting data networks. I'm sure some of you have been sitting in a meeting and heard the phrase "we'll just use a VPN" and had no idea what they were talking about. To be quite frank, being a Network and Security Engineer for many years now I've heard the question "What about using a VPN?" way to often by someone that didn't really didn't even know what it was. If you do know about VPNs then this article is probably not for you. However, if you don't know what a VPN is or know very little about them then I think this article can offer you some insight into the world of Virtual Private Networking. The most common function of a VPN is to connect multiple private networks securely across an unsecured public network like the Internet. A private network in this case would be a network in which the traffic is not freely accessible by the public. If we break down the meaning of Virtual Private Network in the instance explained above it would be as follows. The two end points of this "network" are private networks that are seamlessly connected across a public network in which neither private network knows about, creating a "Virtual Private Network" between them. |
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Written by CCIE9277
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Thursday, 09 February 2006 |
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Methods of securing BGP: Based on Version 4 and cisco systems IOS: Border Gateway Protocol is generally used when routing a very large interior network, binding multiple interior networks together or for interdomain routing across the Internet because of its robustness and scalability. Because of the size and importance of the networks generally interconnected with BGP securing the protocol from attacks is always a good idea. There are many ways of securing BGP on many different platforms. Because of the popularity of Cisco routers on the Internet I will be using their command line for any configuration examples.
- Port filtering: Since BGP peers communicate over TCP port 179 its always a good idea to filter communications over this port to your trusted peer addresses only over the interfaces they will be communicating across. The filtering can be done on a firewall or perimeter router.
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Written by CCIE9277
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Friday, 03 February 2006 |
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With tons of advertisements out there promising better Internet connection performance by "tweaking TCP/IP" its hard to know what is real and what isn't. In this article I will briefly discuss some methods of changing the core settings in the TCP/IP protocol stack and what if any benefit that you will get from doing so.
First off TCP/IP means anything and everything related to the two protocols (TCP Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol). Per RFC 1180 (A TCP/IP Tutorial) "It can include other protocols, applications, and even the network medium. A sample of these protocols are: UDP, ARP, and ICMP. A sample of these applications are: TELNET, FTP, and rcp. A more accurate term is "internet technology". A network that uses internet technology is called an "internet"." So this is the protocol stack that makes communications over the Internet possible. That being said it would make sense that being able to "tweak" such a stack for your specific connection and the newer technologies would speed up your connection right? Lets take a look at some of the common parameters of the TCP/IP stack that some claim can make a difference:
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Written by CCIE9277
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Thursday, 02 February 2006 |
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To follow up on the "So you're ready to build a wireless LAN in your home?" article I decided to write this article on finding the right equipment for your home wireless network. In the last article we covered basics on wireless terminology, protocols and equipment. Now we will take what we learned there and apply that to what we need to buy to accomplish what we want our WLAN to have the ability to do. The first thing we need to decide is what our WLAN requirements will be. In this particular scenario we will use a desktop computer currently located in the area where there is already a DSL broadband connection connected directly to the desktop PC. Now, recently we purchased a laptop computer with built in 802.11g Wi-Fi capability and we wish to share our current broadband Internet connection between the two simultaneously. We also want to have the ability to share files between them and for the laptop to have access to a printer attached directly to the desktop computer. |
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Written by CCIE9277
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Tuesday, 31 January 2006 |
In this article I will discuss a fairly complex but secure campus WLAN design that could be deployed in an enterprise environment.
One of the primary concerns with running wireless networks today is data security Traditional 802.11 WLAN security includes the use of open or shared-key authentication and static wired equivalent privacy (WEP) keys. Each of these elements of control and privacy can be compromised. WEP operates on the data link layer and requires that all parties share the same secret key. Both 40 and 128-bit variants of WEP can easily be broken with readily available tools. 128-bit static WEP keys can be broken in as little as 15 minutes on a high traffic WLAN because of an inherent shortcoming in the RC4 encryption algorithm. Using the FMS attack method theoretically you can derive a WEP key in a range from 100,000 to 1,000,000 packets encrypted using the same key.
While some networks can get by with open or shared key authentication and statically defined WEP encryption keys it's not a good idea to rely on this amount of security alone in an enterprise network environment where the prize could be worth the effort to a would be attacker. In this case you will need some sort of extended security. |
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Written by CCIE9277
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Monday, 30 January 2006 |
| Straight out of the box wireless routers come with many default settings that are very unsecure. Certain steps need to be taken in order to secure your wireless network. In this instance I will be explaining how to secure a Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband router. To secure your Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband router follow the steps listed below: NOTE: This tutorial is based on the Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband router First put the following into the address field of your browser: http://192.168.1.1 You will be prompted for a username and password, you will need to put in admin for both and you should be sent to the setup page in figure 1. |
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