The most important threat to network security - Assignment Example

Authentication is a Threat in Network Security Number) May 7, (Faculty) Authentication is a Threat in Network Security Network security has risen to be a matter of prime concern to private network users, organizations and the military as well. With the ever advancing technology, these parties have opted to embrace authentication as one way of securing their information against malicious internet users. One thing that many people fail to take into consideration is that authentication itself is the most important threat in network security and we are just about to find out how in this study.

“Authentication is the process of determining whether someone or something is, in fact, who or what it is declared to be.” (Rouse 2000-2015). Authentication works on the principles that the presented data must match the data that is already in the database and this is where it can also be turned into the main threat. Featuring authentication as a major threat in network security is based on the fact that user access is granted based on database information. The authentication system can grant access to about anyone who provides similar data to the one pre-stored in the database system.

Therefore the person does not have to be the real owner of the information in order to access it. This information could have been phished, eavesdropped or generally illegally obtained from a target victim. Now, authentication proves to be an important threat as it used by almost everyone across the globe and is thus a gateway through many secured systems. From the above discussion we can conclude that authentication remains to be a living matter in internet security. As technology gets better and more advanced, malicious internet users exploit the slightest weaknesses in authentication systems using the very advanced technology meant to provide protection.

ReferenceRouse, M. (2000-2015). Authentication. Tech Target. Retrieved on: May 7, 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/authentication