4.2.1: understand the importance of network security, ways of identifying network vulnerabilities (penetration testing, ethical hacking) and methods of protecting networks (access control, physical security, firewalls)
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| access control | limiting the rights of specific groups or individual users so that you can control what they can and can't do |
| ethical hacking | obtaining permission to identify security vulnerabilities on a computer network and then reporting them responsibly so that they can't be exploited by malicious hackers |
| firewall | using a set of rules to filter network traffic to block data from malicious sources or to allow data from trusted sources |
| malicious hacker | someone who breaks into a network or computer system without permission |
| penetration testing | attempting to break into a network using a list of common vulnerabilities in order to find out if there are any possible ways to gain unauthorised access |
| physical security | limiting how close people can get to a computer system by using locks, biometrics or locking down devices |
| vulnerability | a weakness in network security which could allow unauthorised users to gain access |
