Marketing Your Firm Online – Part 3

By Patricia Jordan

Does your network have an open back door? If you don’t know the answer to that question, then you could have a problem. Experts recommend you employ a three-tier approach to security: e-mail, network and web security must work together to protect your network infrastructure from a variety of threats, such as denial of service, phishing, malware, spam, spyware, viruses and more. If you are inexperienced with security-related issues, I suggest you speak with a professional to determine your requirements and what the best solution is for your firm. An IT professional will conduct a risk analysis to identify threats, classify assets and rate system vulnerabilities so that an effective security system can be implemented.

First, you’ll need a firewall. A firewall’s purpose is to control traffic between computer networks with different zones of trust. For example, an internal network is a zone with high trust and the Internet is a zone with no trust. IT professionals recommend that you use both hardware and software firewalls. A hardware firewall is a piece of equipment that is attached to your network system. The advantage of using a hardware firewall is that it is configured to allow certain types of traffic, consequently protecting the network and making it more difficult to hack into than software. A software firewall is a security program that is installed on a computer to control network traffic by denying or permitting communications based on security protocol. The proper configuration of a firewall requires the skill of a trained professional. A considerable understanding of network protocols and computer security is vital, as small mistakes can render a firewall worthless.

Your second line of defence should include anti-virus software to provide spam, spyware and virus protection for e-mail. If anti-virus software is not kept up-to-date, you risk becoming the unwanted target of malware, spyware or similar software that can manipulate your firewall, rendering it useless. Presently, firewalls do not scan for viruses or e-mail attachments; they control traffic moving in and out of a network system. In future, firewalls may include anti-virus content processing technology to provide comprehensive protection.

For more information about security visit: netsecurity.about.com, securityfocus.com and cert.org/tech_tips/home_networks.html.

Internet Security Tips

• Develop a security protocol
• Maintain a culture of security
• Install a firewall to block unauthorized access
• Install anti-virus software and keep it up-to-date
• Use secure passwords
• Back-up your data

Patricia Jordan is the CBABC Manager, Interactive Media. She welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions. Tel: 604-646-7861 E-mail: pjordan@bccba.org

This article was published in the June 2007 issue of BarTalk. © 2007 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.