Presentation
Definition : the information system security includes technical, organizational, legal and human means required and put in place to preserve, restore, and guarantee the information security and the information system security.
Nowadays the perimeter of the information system is wide, its security then very sensitive and it has to handle multiple aspects and use cases. Users can consult, and even transport information beyond the company walls.
The aim is to get sure that the company hardware and software resources are only used in the designed frame. To reach this point, we can provide several security media :
Firewall
In his hardware aspect, it's the bridge between the LAN and one or several external networks. Through a set of predefined rules, it permits the implementation of filtering policies.
Antivirus
Able to detect the presence of virus in a computer and to disinfect it. We then speak of virus eradication to designate the process of cleaning the computer.
Some very complete solutions offer the protection of workstations, laptops, PDAs, servers and gateways against virus, trojans, worms, rootkits and spywares.
Anti-spam
The spam, a massive sending of unwanted e-mails, can block the company mail. The anti-spam solutions have usually protected them by using different levels of bayesian and heuristics filters. From now, new solutions check the senders reputation, thus block incoming spams and viruses also. These ones are usually available in appliances and can filter the mails content to protect the sensitive data of the company, and even struggle against phishing.
Virtual private network (VPN)
VPNs are secured links at a low cost, based on ciphering protocols that allow data to be securely transported across VPN tunnel outside the local network. Dedicated appliances allow the implementation of VPNs without particular constraint to the customer, with a standard web browser for example. The company internal resources and services are then accessible from the outside (Home PCs, smartphones, PDAs, etc.).
Ciphering
The interception risk of the transaction across and outside network is real. It is then necessary to guarantee the security of the information: the cryptography takes care of it. Modular and very competitive solutions guarantee files, disk, external media (USB sticks, CD/DVD) ciphering. It can even guarantee the protection of PDAs and control plug & play ports and applicative rights.
Strong authentication
Strong authentication can add to traditional authentication systems with login/password solutions which can be a additional randomly produced code for a short duration, a ciphering algorithm, certificates or an electronic signature system.
Several possibilities to consolidate security and to simplify the passwords management in company are real: security case, USB keys, code devices, smart cards, etc.
URL filtering
Based on URL filtering with lists of banned websites, this technology has interested companies which wanted to control or limit the Internet access of their employees.
Since then filtering modes have evolved: lastest solutions propose beyond the simple URL control, the analysis of IP addresses and domain names, the management of categories of websites, the filtering of malwares.
Once the undesirable content designated it becomes very easy to block the access to the whole users.
IDS, IPS
To block the intrusions and not only to detect them, such is the vow of all security managers of the information systems.
An IPS isn’t a simple evolution of an IDS or a firewall. An IPS must be precise in its detections to prevent an really dangerous intrusion for the information system, and not to transmit too many alerts. As it works inline it must be reliable and extremely available with a low latency.
PKIs
We designate by this term all the technical solutions based on the cryptography with public keys.
