Electronic communications and the related issues of security are not new. However, as the Internet and other info-communication networks become an ever-increasing part of our daily lives, so does our dependency upon their underlying infrastructure. Unfortunately, as our dependency has grown, so have hostile attacks on infrastructure by network predators. Newly discovered forms of attacks, the availability and wide distribution of attack tools, as well as the flaws in common desktop software have resulted in networks becoming increasingly vulnerable. Simple viruses are argued to have cost billions of dollars worldwide in lost productivity. Sophisticated distributed denial of service attacks on the Internet are on the rise.
In evaluating network options, it is important for the company to review the nuances of each network by location and determine how critical each site is to the overall corporation. Both the types of applications and the number of people at each location are factors that will determine the bandwidth type, speed, and upgradeability as well as future growth opportunities. Knowing these things will allow the network provider to design the network with the optimal redundancy or fail-over required in the event the primary connection goes down. Another factor, one that is often overlooked, is the need for security solutions to augment the overall network and keep viruses and unwanted DDOS attacks from affecting or infecting traffic flow.
Going through these questions in detail allows micro-multinationals to design and negotiate comprehensive bundled solutions with a provider for a competitive price point. In addition to evaluating their current environment, micro-multinationals need to consider their growth potential; they tend to grow rapidly and generally do not have or want to have staff to focus on managing their networked locations. Therefore, deciding on a fully managed solution is a strategic decision that can save organizations countless hours per day and ensure that network performance reaches optimal potential. When selecting a managed solution, having visibility into and being able to monitor the network environment should be part of the comprehensive solution.
Installing the correct software for the specific needs of your IT infrastructure is essential to having the best security protection possible. Many companies install “off the shelf” security software and assume they are protected. Unfortunately, that is not the case due to the nature of today’s network threats. Threats are diverse in nature, including the usual spam, spyware, viruses, trojans, worms, and the occasional possibility that a hacker has targeted your servers. Network Critical aggregation TAPs are available in a full range of network media and densities to suit your deployment requirement.