Network Security

Network security is an essential factor for both home and business networks. Security measures are needed to protect user information and not be vulnerable to bad online actors. Unfortunately, some individuals purposefully steal user information or infect devices with viruses and malware, which can be costly to repair. Most people are familiar with password protection as a form of network security. However, passwords are only the beginning of securing a network. Other forms of network protection may include firewalls, encryption, antivirus software, VPNs (virtual private networks), and two-factor authentication, which has become more popular over the last few years.

Traveling Through a Network

Ping & Traceroute Commands

Ping and traceroute are both excellent methods to test network connectivity. Ping is used for testing connectivity to a remote host. When the ping command is initiated, packets are sent over to the remote host, and if it is reachable, the host sends packets back in a reply. The ping results will show how many packets were sent and received, if any are lost, and the roundtrip time.   Traceroute is similar; however, it shows the path packets take to reach a destination. When packets attempt to travel from source to destination, they make a series of hops between multiple routers. If packets encounter a router with connectivity issues or one that does not recognize where the packets need to go, the packet will be ignored, and the request will time out. Let's take a look at a few examples, shall we?