Contributed by Ndumiso Sofika

When it comes to security we need to remember the following words. “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”

Often users are the weakest link when it comes to network security. We always think that hackers are very intelligent computer users; they have the coolest software to hack into our computers/servers. This is often not the case most of the time they just guess a password and at times a software weakness is exploited and occasionally you will come across a very skilled hacker.  Looking at password guessing, (because this is the most popular method) we shall create a user called admin, based on the user name most users will set the password to admin. This is mainly so that they do not forget the password, this is a weak password. The better password for the account admin is @DmiN!58 this has character complexity which makes the password strong. It also helps prevent hackers from using dictionary based software to guess the passwords. Exploiting software is when a hacker uses a common weakness of the software that you are using. E.g. Windows XP has an account called guest and there is no password for this user. Some programs come with user accounts preconfigured with them this is for managing the database most of the time. The first thing that you should do with such software’s is to change the default password. It is also important to make sure that your operating system is up to date. We need to remember that every system will eventually succumb to attacks. The best we can do is to educate our users, enforce a strong password policy, monitor our network for any unknown activity and test our security at random intervals.  Appoint a network administrator this person does not have to be always physically onsite but he/she is there to be the main contact person, every change regarding your network should be approved by him/her. This is especially important if you are outsourcing management of some of your network resources.  Even the wealthiest companies do get compromised. Sony is the most recent one to be hacked http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-20058070-235/sonys-hacking-woes-mount-after-psn-breach-roundup/ and it’s not the only one to be compromised nor shall it be the last.