Whitepaper 02-03: Network Perimeter Security

Download the whitepaper “Network Perimeter Security” here!

Most small companies struggle with network security, but that does not relieve these companies of the requirements for ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their network and network resources. This whitepaper helps small organizations address their network requirements, especially at the physical layout to include at least the following “security zones:”

• public – the organization’s “face” to the world (reception via secure entry)
• protected – the organization’s proprietary information (locked access requiring entry codes or a key – think a corporate safe)
• internal – employee workspaces (bullpen – normally an open or thinly partitioned area)
• guest – provides an area for visitors to be entertained (think the “nice” executive conference room)

Not coincidentally, many logical corporate networks are built to reflect and support that rather simplistic model. Adding to this simple network design is the fact that in most cases an organization will standardize on some single operating system (in this paper we’ll assume the ubiquitous Windows environment, but of course it could be anything). Given these typical constraints and notional logical network setup, we look at some common effects on the organization’s network security perimeter.