Why It Is Important to Monitor Network Traffic

The primary concern associated with network forensics is the monitoring of network traffic. This means watching where users go on a network, what they do at various stages of their journey through the network, and how they interact with the options made available to them by the network and the others on it.

Watching every move a network’s users make may seem like a trivial waste of time, but hackers and other ill-meaning parties often scout or utilize a network in order to gain more complete access to a system and the targeted assets within it. Before and while taking any overtly aggressive actions, these infiltrators often test the boundaries of their authorization and power on a network, and only by monitoring all of a network’s users can these hackers potentially be identified and their attacks thwarted.

Difficulties of Effective Network Forensics

Unfortunately, performing meaningful and effective network forensics is not easy. It requires networks to have layers of cyber security already in existence—for example, digital detection systems like packet filters or firewalls—so that network users can be monitored as they interact with these blankets of protection.

Additionally, unlike other forms of cyber forensics, network forensics happens in real time as real users maneuver through a network. When dealing with a sophisticated hacker who has knowledge of the security details of a network and with a good idea of where they want to go, network forensics can be nerve-wracking, fast-paced, and intense.

Two Methods of Network Forensics

How data is collected in a network forensics plan can make a big difference in the overall integrity of the system. Which data collection structure is used should depend on the network itself, as well as on the memory and speed of the machines dedicated to performing network forensics operations.

Capture Everything

Capturing all of the data—known in the cyber security field as “catch it as you can” forensics—is the more thorough version of network forensics. However, the sheer amounts of data that gets collected can be so overwhelming that it may be ultimately useless unless there is an effective way to analyze it. Additionally, capturing all the network forensics data requires extensive storage space to house that data while it is being processed.

Temporary Detention

A more sophisticated approach is to detain batches of data for quick analysis before storing only suspicious or predetermined pieces of targeted forensic information. Called the “stop, look, and listen” approach to network forensics, this requires a quick processor to keep the flow of data moving continually.

Hire Traversed for Your Network Forensic Needs

Without foreknowledge of an infiltrator, it can be almost impossible to stop a determined and sophisticated actor from accessing protected information. Fortunately, the data left behind by a network’s users can be the eyes and ears of a cyber security defense team.

Detailed and nuanced network forensics strategies can be the best way to tell a legitimate network user apart from a hacker who is about to make a move. Network forensics is just another piece of the puzzle that a skilled cyber security firm can provide to protect your company’s assets, information, or other closely-held material.