Basic Cisco IOS Software & Catalyst 3550 Series Security

I. Cisco IOS Software Security

Routers are considered to be quite an important part of any network, and successful implementation of Cisco IOS Software security features which would be increasing router efficiency and, by association, the efficiency of the entire network. Cisco IOS Software would be including a number of useful services. Unfortunately, many of them would be presenting a security concern. Herein, you would find a short explanation of some of these services, their functionality, as well as how they could be misused by an attacker. Then you would be learning about how to use the various Cisco IOS Software basic mechanisms that are going to be designed to protect information. To gain more knowledge regarding the same, join prep courses offered by SPOTO.

II. HTTP Server Security

In order to enable configuration as well as management of network devices remotely, Cisco IOS Software would be offering web-based Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) administration. Though the web-access features are considered to be quite common on Cisco routers, they would be facilitating not only a mechanism for configuring and monitoring but also for attacking a router. The HTTP traffic needs to be protected by securing the communication between the HTTP client as well as the HTTP server. Several security technologies are available for this task like the HTTPS, SSL, SSH, and IPSec which are discussed throughout this article.

III. Password Management

In order to control, who could access the router command prompt, you could set various passwords for various access points leading to the router. You could configure the passwords for local console access or remote access through Telnet. This is done for preventing unauthorized changes to a router's behavior and also to protect information that could be learned by looking at the network statistics on a router.

IV. Access Lists

Cisco IOS Software would be using the access lists, which is also known as Access Control Lists (ACLs), as security filters so as to permit or deny specific traffic from entering or exiting parts of the network. Access lists would be used heavily on Cisco routers for restricting access to a router's services as well as for filtering traffic passing through the router. The router would be looking at each packet and determines whether to forward or drop the packet, which would be based on the conditions that would be specified in the access lists.

V. Secure Shell

Secure Shell (SSH) service is considered as a newer Cisco IOS Software feature that would be intended for use in secure remote administration. In order to create a secure link between a client and a server, SSH would be utilizing Rivest, Shamir, and Adelman (RSA) public key cryptography. Therefore, the communication between the administrator's host as well as the router is encrypted. SSH would also be utilized to prevent various kinds of network attacks. Currently, Cisco would be implementing only version 1 of SSH, but remember to check for future updates.

VI. Catalyst 3550 Security

Because the 3550 family of Catalyst switches would be utilizing the IOS-based command-line interface, the handling of the basic security features on the switch would be considered virtually the same as it would be mentioned on the router. For now, you should utilize the Access Control Lists (ACLs), which are covered previously, in order to enforce remote administration security.

Now, we wouldn’t be able to discuss fully this topic as it would need lots of time and will also make it quite lengthy. Thus if you wish to more knowledge regarding the same, you should opt for the courses which you could find online. I would advise you to join the one which are offered by the SPOTO. As when it comes to any Cisco related Certification, SPOTO is considered one of the best.