Switch Security

This past week I learned about a few ways to protect networking switches. Networking switches , are used to extend networks and connect hosts to a network, but sometimes can be exploited to , steal data or MAC addresses. Some ways hackers attempt to exploit networks include: packet , sniffing, port flooding, DHCP starvation, or Denial of Service. Packet sniffing is used to capture , any data that is in plain text and can be prevented by using SSH which encrypts plain text data , being transmitted across the internet. Port Flooding overwhelms a switch with fake MAC , addresses until the switch broadcasts the whole MAC address table across the networking, this , can be prevented with the use of port security or DHCP snooping. Port security helps mitigate , MAC address flooding attacks, and DHCP Snooping help identify potential flooding attempts , and leading to them being shut down before any adverse effects occur. Sometimes hackers , attempt to get information from a switch by overwhelming it with interruptions from an , authorized user's access to a computer network, and some even use a virus to spread code , among other computers to have a distributed denial of service coming from multiple sources to , aggrandize the impact of the DoS to attack a switch. Telnet DoS’s can be prevented with security , patches or SSH. Some hackers even try brute forcing which basically tries every possible , combination of characters until a combo works, this can be prevented with a strong password. , Overall there are many ways for a hacker to get what they are looking for but there are equally , as many ways to stay protected from malicious hackers.