For security testing on the Cisco 2821 and 3845 routers, I built a firewall using the firewall wizard. I marked local interfaces as "trusted," and the wizard applied access rules to deny inbound spoofing traffic and traffic sourced from broadcast and local loop back addresses. I marked interfaces connected to the Internet as "untrusted." For untrusted interfaces, the wizard checked for unicast reverse path forwarding and permitted inbound VPN, ICMP and NTP traffic. Then it denied spoofing traffic, traffic sourced from broadcast, local loop back and private addresses. Once the wizard finished, it copied 95 commands to the router, and I had a default firewall in place.
I also configured an IPS (intrusion-prevention system) from the GUI. I enabled interfaces for inbound and outbound inspection using default packet signatures at the click of a mouse. I set up IPS on the untrusted interface facing the real world and enabled fragment-checking. Once done, 82 packet signatures were added to a list of inspection tasks. They all focused on "attack" and "code execution"--for example, statd automount attack and DNS SIG overflow.
Although the IPS recognized many of the packets I generated from NMAP, there's more to security than packet signatures. To review other possible security concerns, SDM also supplies an audit tool that checks and identifies common security problems, such as minimum password lengths, TCP synwait time and IP redirects. I reviewed the problems along with their recommended solutions and, with one click, implemented them.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
