In the security world, the phrase ‘secure network’ is often viewed as an oxymoron; experience has demonstrated that once a device is connected to a network it becomes vulnerable to attacks from anyone who has access to that network. The fundamental cause of this lies at the heart of the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) used to communicate over the network — TCP/IP is a lightweight, open protocol specifically designed to facilitate easy communication between disparate computers. This easy connectivity was desirable when the Internet consisted of a few small nodes located on University campuses and government research facilities, but in today’s connected world you can never be sure who might be lurking on the other end of a network connection.
