Nokia IP60 - Security Appliance, User Manual

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Introduction to Information Security
Chapter 2: Security 29
Chapter 2
This chapter explains the basic security concepts.
This chapter includes the following topics:
Introduction to Information Security .......................................................... 29
The Nokia IP60 Firewall ............................................................................ 32
Introduction to Information Security
Network security is but a small part of information security, which in turn is only a fraction of general
security. In order to understand why the IP60 appliance is the best product for securing the business
network, we must first examine information security requirements in general.
Information is Valuable!
The most valuable asset an organization has is its information. The type of information maintained by an
organization depends on the organization's type and purpose. For example:
Almost every organization stores information about its operations, such as employees' names and
other personal details, salaries, and so on.
Depending on the role of different governmental offices, they may store personal information
about citizens, residential addresses, car licenses registration, and so on.
The army stores information about its soldiers, weapons inventory, and intelligence information
about other armies. Much of this information is confidential.
A bank stores information about its customers' accounts, their money transactions, ATM machine
access codes, and so on. Much of this information is confidential.
Commercial companies store information about their revenues, business and marketing plans,
current and future product lines, information about competitors, and so on.
Just as the type of information may differ from organization to organization, the form in which it is stored
may vary. For example, some forms of information are:
Information recorded in written media, such as paper documents, books, and files
Knowledge that is stored in a person's mind and can be exchanged verbally
Information stored on electronic media, such as computers' hard drives, CDs, and tapes
The form in which an organization stores its information may make the information more or less accessible
to people outside the organization.
Why Protect Business Information?
There are various reasons why it is necessary to protect business information:
Security