Your Network – What does it do, and why should you protect it?

A network, simply put, is the collection of connections between devices that allow them to communicate. The most common type of network is the LAN, or Local Area Network, which is used to connect a small number of devices over a small geographical location, like an office or a home. Because of the nature of a LAN, gaining access to the network usually means gaining access to any open connections on that network, including your computer.

In the past, LANs were quite secure, needing a physical connection to the central controller – or the router – to connect to the LAN. This has become less true in recent years, as WLANs (Wireless Local Area Network) have become more common. A WLAN uses radio frequencies to create connections between devices over a distance, doing away with the need for a physical connection. Most people have come to refer to this WLAN connection as a “Wi-Fi connection”.

 In order to send and receive information, Wi-Fi signals must be broadcast out over a large area, and can be accessed by anyone with the ability to detect them. As you can imagine, this has created a need for increased security when it comes to protecting information travelling over the network. There are many ways to protect your data, the most common being to use a password to keep unwanted guests from accessing your network. As you can see in our previous post, however, passwords are only the first line of defense.

In order to keep networks secure, JeterIT uses an assortment of tools to monitor your network and all connections made in real time, as well as taking preventative measures such as firewalls to keep unwanted devices from making connections, sending, or receiving data across your network. This helps to ensure no unauthorized connections are being created, and that your precious data is safe from the eyes of intruders. If you think your network might be at risk, give us a call, and we would be happy to perform a security analysis of your network and provide solutions on how to improve your security!