Installation of a firewall policy in a small office - home office Essay

Installation of a firewall policy in a small office - home office (SOHO) environment - Essay Example Consequentially, it has become inevitable to protect these environments from any attack. Though none can claim that a network is totally secure, advanced security measures need always be implemented. In SOHO network, to protect any external intrusion using a firewall, one can consider using either a hardware or software firewall. A hardware firewall is a digital edge device put in a network that serves to allow or disallow network transmissions. A firewall once installed, it protects a network from unauthorised access while permitting only legitimate communications to pass through the network. Most vendors of operating systems (OS) for personal computers include software-based firewall packages in the OSs to protect threats from the public Internet. Different types of firewalls can be implemented at different levels in a network but since in a SOHO environment cost implications are vastly considered, only one level of a firewall can be implemented (Briere et al., 2010). This single l evel of firewall application must be effective enough so as to ensure that any outbound communication is secure. The installation of a firewall is based upon several set of rules that play a great role in deciding the type of a firewall to employ and the overall effectiveness of it. It would an unimportant and impractically costly venture to implement a firewall policy for a large company’s network for a small office/home office network since this firewall would serve as a central offloading point for security-related activity. Through the installation of a firewall appliance in a SOHO environment, client systems can easily share Internet connections. Internet connections pose the main risk to every network whether in a shared or unshared environment. Hackers are constantly finding new ways either to create vulnerabilities in a highly secured network or even to attack any network that would have security vulnerabilities. As technology changes, application-level attacks are gr eatly advancing too. This whole situation has cause a huge tradeoff between the provision of a secure network and the cost of that provision. To secure a network especially one that has access to the Internet has proved to a challenging task to the network administrators since the more they put hard security measure both in hardware and software forms, the more attacks are being targeted and executed on their networks. This has led to the introduction of integrated firewall appliances e.g. gateways and routers, that handle both the work of data transmission and data screening at the perimeter wall. Clients in SOHO network depend a lot on emails. These emails can be outbound or inbound. Both should be screened at the firewall level to ensure that only legitimate emails are given access to the network. Emails carry attachments and security compromisers have always been bent on imitating their attacks using email attachment that contain worms, Trojans, spyware or even a malware. These embedded threats once that gain access to the network would cause undesired trouble in the stability of the network as some of them have the potential to iniatiate a denial of service attack. This attack is among the most hazardous on a network since the entire business is brought in to a halt. Another harmful attack would be the one initiated with intent

The great man theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The great man theory - Assignment Example The article takes a deeper look at the great man theory that puts it clear that a great leader is God given not man-made. It only provides two options; either one is born as leader or one is not born a leader. The history of the great man theory dates back to the 19th century, when great leaders seen at that time were in born heroes, for instance Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi and Alexander the Great. The theory had also focused on the highly quested positions in the army which were hereditary from father to son. This also led to the name, great man theory since no women were holding commanding positions. In the 1800s, military authoritative positions would paint the leadership skills of a man. With the assumption that the skills are inborn, the son of the leader was to take over since it was believed they had the same skills as their fathers. Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish writer, is credited for his move to popularize the theory in the 1840s. According to Thomas Carlyle, the history o f the world is nothing, but a bibliography of great men. He also believed that great leaders are those born with divine inspiration and proper characteristics to lead a group of people. The theory simply tends to separate leaders and followers. It gives the assumption that leaders differed from their followers. The theory portrays the fact that, in society different people posses different levels of intelligence, energy and moral strength, and in whatever way people are influenced to go, they are always led by the superior minded few. (Miller, Vandome & McBrewster, 2010). Back in the days, many leaders had the opportunity of having a chance of leadership through the birthright. This hindered the lesser in society in having the opportunity to be leaders. This brought up the assumption that leadership abilities are inherent. Proponents of this theory comprise of the world great leaders who came into power due to situational causes, for instance, John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Lee Lacocca. In another concept, a great leader always steps up regardless of their social status or location. A person with inborn leadership qualities will effect positive change in every place he or she goes. A person may not be a holder of an authoritative post but influences great masses to any direction he or she wishes. In deed, this is a description of a born leader according to the great man theory. Applications of this theory are visible in modern day management. Apart from government organizations, private company owners prefer to hand over their businesses to their sons after their retirement. They believe the leadership skills in them have been passed on to their sons. With this, one is able to see the long life of an organization, which has been led by one family for over 40 years. In some cases, the application of the inherent leadership posts may be difficult for offsprings but situational purposes make the shoes fit for them. Another application may be evident in co ntesting of parliamentary or presidential posts. In many instances, it has been