Progress check: Introduction to network security and general revision of prior content.

Last week, my cyber security classes started again and I was thrown into the depths of network security. This is a completely new aspect in my networking studies, as I am still learning about network topologies and different architectures.

As an aside, I desperately need to review my understanding of more complicated network architectures like trunking and spanning tree protocols.

To that end, I seem to be taking a break from Jeremy’s series to catch my breath and revise what I have learnt in the past few weeks. Learning a new topic a day is not sustainable or efficient for a subject as dense as networking.

Instead, I have been completing my first week of notes for my Network Security unit.

I’m definitely enjoying the unit much more than previous networking units, having spent the term break reviewing IP addressing and Cisco device configurations.

I did a Packet Tracer lab today setting up secure passwords and ssh for routers and switches, and I was pleasantly surprised how much easier it was for me to navigate the lab activities this time around, as opposed to previously when I had next to no clue what I was doing.

Even for an introductory session, there were already over a hundred slides about different network architectures, secure configurations, and various authentication methods to ensure only certain users had access to certain resources or commands.

With the knowledge of switches and routers, there’s no limit to what a potential threat actor can do if they were to gain access to such devices within a network.

I’m glad that I’ve taken a more active approach to my networking revision. It seems like networking is often neglected by cyber security beginners since it’s much more taxing and less fun than playing around with penetration testing, but I’m definitely starting to connect the dots around how network protocols and devices are pivotal to the security of any digital infrastructure.

It has become more apparent to me that learning about the history of network protocols will help me shape the future of the internet.

I have been reading books about the evolution of the internet and how it evolved from democratic and readily-available protocols to a centralised post-capitalist hellscape of Big Tech platforms.

Even this blog is my first step towards detaching myself from the chokehold that is big social media platforms.

I will have more to discuss about recent developments in the news, especially in the UK and Australia, but in order to de-Google or de-Amazon our internet, we might begin where it all started.

The humble network protocols.