Question

1. Why is it important that by the time employees start, they should be thoroughly briefed on security components and on their rights and responsibilities?

Answer 1

Security Components
Computer security rests on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The interpretations of these three aspects vary, as do the contexts in which they arise. The interpretation of an aspect in a given environment is dictated by the needs of the individuals, customs, and laws of the particular organization. Computer Security has the ability to detect and prevent attacks and to be able to recover.
Network security is any activity designed to protect the usability and integrity of your network and data. It includes both hardware and software technologies. Effective network security manages access to the network. It targets a variety of threats and stops them from entering or spreading on your network.

Access control
Not every user should have access to your network. To keep out potential attackers, you need to recognize each user and each device. Then you can enforce your security policies. You can block noncompliant endpoint devices or give them only limited access. This process is network access control (NAC).

Antivirus and antimalware software
"Malware," short for "malicious software," includes viruses, worms, Trojans, ransomware, and spyware. Sometimes malware will infect a network but lie dormant for days or even weeks. The best antimalware programs not only scan for malware upon entry, but also continuously track files afterward to find anomalies, remove malware, and fix damage.

Application security
Any software you use to run your business needs to be protected, whether your IT staff builds it or whether you buy it. Unfortunately, any application may contain holes, or vulnerabilities, that attacker can use to infiltrate your network. Application security encompasses the hardware, software, and processes you use to close those holes.

Behavioral analytics
To detect abnormal network behavior, you must know what normal behavior looks like. Behavioral analytics tools automatically discern activities that deviate from the norm. Your security team can then better identify indicators of compromise that pose a potential problem and quickly remediate threats.

Data loss prevention
Organizations must make sure that their staff does not send sensitive information outside the network. Data loss prevention, or DLP, technologies can stop people from uploading, forwarding, or even printing critical information in an unsafe manner.

Email security
Email gateways are the number one threat vector for a security breach. Attackers use personal information and social engineering tactics to build sophisticated phishing campaigns to deceive recipients and send them to sites serving up malware. An email security application blocks incoming attacks and controls outbound messages to prevent the loss of sensitive data.

Firewalls
Firewalls put up a barrier between your trusted internal network and untrusted outside networks, such as the Internet. They use a set of defined rules to allow or block traffic. A firewall can be hardware, software, or both. Cisco offers unified threat management (UTM) devices and threat-focused next-generation firewalls.

Intrusion prevention systems
An intrusion prevention system (IPS) scans network traffic to actively block attacks. Cisco Next-Generation IPS(NGIPS) appliances do this by correlating huge amounts of global threat intelligence to not only block malicious activity but also track the progression of suspect files and malware across the network to prevent the spread of outbreaks and reinfection.

Mobile device security
Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting mobile devices and apps. Within the next 3 years, 90 percent of IT organizations may support corporate applications on personal mobile devices. Of course, you need to control which devices can access your network. You will also need to configure their connections to keep network traffic private.

Web security
A web security solution will control your staff’s web use, block web-based threats, and deny access to malicious websites. It will protect your web gateway on site or in the cloud. "Web security" also refers to the steps you take to protect your own website.

Wireless security
Wireless networks are not as secure as wired ones. Without stringent security measures, installing a wireless LAN can be like putting Ethernet ports everywhere, including the parking lot. To prevent an exploit from taking hold, you need products specifically designed to protect a wireless network.

Employees Responsibilities toward the policies to maintain a safe and effective workplace.
1)   Comprehension
Management develops workplace security policies and training programs to familiarize employees with the ways to maintain a safe workplace. But management cannot force employees to understand all of the policies. It is the responsibility of employees to benefit from workplace security training and to come away with a comprehensive understanding of policies. If an employee does not understand a policy, or did not get information on a security measure, she must approach management to get clarification or more information.
2)   Vigilance
Employees need to remain vigilant when it comes to executing security policies in the workplace. When an employee sees suspicious activity, he needs to follow security procedures and report it. A workplace security policy is effective only if it is used and practiced. Employees should make it a point to attend all security training classes and to be ready to use security procedures at all times
3)   Personal Space
Part of employee responsibility in maintaining a company security policy is being responsible for his own area. Employees need to make sure that their work areas adhere to security standards, and each employee must be certain that her personal effects in the work area do not hamper security. For example, if an employee has a large plant on top of his file cabinet that blocks a security camera, that plant needs to be moved.
4)   Procedures
Employees need to have respect for corporate security procedures to allow those procedures to be effective. For example, an employee should refuse to assist a coworker in bypassing the card-swiping entry system because the coworker forgot her access card. The employee should remind the coworker of the security procedure in place for people who misplace their access cards.

EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
1) EDUCATION
The best network security strategies include ongoing employee education. Hackers are continually evolving their tools and tactics. To beat them, you need to keep your employees up-to-date on current cyberthreats and on end-user security best practices.
For instance, you can hold semi-regular training seminars to go over the latest security threats. You can discuss what to look out for, what to do in case of a virus, and what the process is in case of a data breach.
Proper password usage can be a constant struggle for people. Everyone must manage multiple accounts at different times of the day. As a result, many people frequently use the same simple passwords over and over to save time.
2) Email and Privacy
In most cases, email messages are not subject to any personal privacy laws. As a result, employers are generally free to monitor and read employees’ email messages, with no restrictions. The theory in this situation is that emails sent using a workplace computer are the property of the employer, regardless of whether the sender or recipient of the email message intended to keep its contents private. Whether an employer is monitoring email messages to and from employees in order to ensure that employees are productive, to guarantee that employees are not disclosing confidential information, or simply to decrease the possibility of any employee misconduct or wrongdoing, employers typically are well within their rights to monitor employee email.
3) Internet Usage at Work
Similarly, employees’ internet usage in the workplace is subject to the same scrutiny as email messages. Employers generally can track employees’ internet usage, in terms of time spent online, websites visited, and engagement in other online activities. An employer also may restrict an employee’s access to the internet or access to certain websites, or prohibit personal usage of workplace computers altogether. As a result, there is no cognizable right to privacy claim against your employer for monitoring or restricting your internet usage

4) Written Work Policies
Likewise, employers these days typically have written policies regarding personal computer usage, which place employees on notice of the employer’s stance on using a workplace computer for personal purposes. These policies provide support for employers when they choose to discipline or even discharge employees for inappropriately using workplace computers. However, even in the absence of such policies, the law generally sides with employers in setting and enforcing personal computer usage by employees in the workplace.