Modems in a Secure Business Environment
There is a difference between a modem and a router, yet both are needed for a secure connection to the internet. A modem is a hardware device that enables a computer to receive and send data through cable lines, telephone or satellite connection. Transmission of information over a telephone line is transmitted through analog waves, whereas, information from the computer is stored digitally. A modem converts data between these two forms. Today’s high-speed digital modem does not need the analog-to-digital conversion and uses simple signal transmission.
Baud was the unit of measurement that measured a modem’s speed initially. But baud rate was converted to bits per second with the changes brought about by technology development. Consumers became accustomed to modems in the late 70’s through services like CompuServe. Basically, there are two different types of modems;
Dial-Up and Broadband Modems
Earlier models, called dial-up modeams, transformed data between the analog and digital form by using dial-up networks. An external dial-up modem is connected to the computer and is also plugged into a telephone line that results in the complete connection for internet. The maximum speed of data transfer in a conventional dial-up network modem is 56,000 bits per second.
What is a Broadband Modem?
A broadband modem is the modern day network device that uses advanced signaling techniques which transmits higher network speed using a DSL or cable internet access compared to dial-up modems. Broadband modems are the high-speed modems. There are cellular modems which are a type of digital modem that connects the mobile device to a cellular network that authorizes internet connection.
An external broadband modem uses a home broadband router or home gateway device on one end and the external internet interface such as a cable line on the other. Both these devices release signal to all the other devices for the much needed network connection.
What’s the Difference Between Modems and Routers
Router and modem are the two most common external network devices. Many of us are unaware of it being two completely different devices and assume it to be one device with two names. Both these devices look quite similar but their functions vary vastly. Routers look like a small box that allows multiple computers to connect to a single network. They generally come in two connection types – wired and wireless connections. While wired connections have distinct Ethernet ports, modern routers are wireless and do not carry any baggage of the ever tangling wires which becomes more convenient to use. Wireless routers contain antennas on either side or sometimes both sides of the device.
With the use of the internet that conquers the people all over the world, it has become an easy as well as a scary place to live in such a digitized world. The internet marks every step of an individual which can sometimes create havoc. That is when the term cyber security steps in. Cyber security or information technology security is the technique of protecting computers, networks, programs and data from unauthorized access or attacks that are aimed for exploitation. Cyber security is a set process of techniques that protect the computers, network, programs and data from attackers from misuse and uninformed access that leads to cyber fraud and offense.
Importance of Cyber Security
In today’s day and age, cyber security plays an important role in combating the various types of fraudulent cyber exploitation that not only harms an individual but the entire world too. An enormous amount of data is accumulated and stored on a computer or any other data storing device from different entities like government, military, financial, corporate and medical organizations which if hacked may cause unprecedented damage to any country or even the world. Due to the growing number of cyber attackers by the day, it is of paramount importance to safeguard data and documents that hold sensitive information from getting hacked or misused. These type of organizations need to take the necessary steps to protect themselves from the sophisticated cyber attackers.
Cyber Security specifically features the following elements:
- Application security
- Information security
- Disaster recovery and Network security
Due to the developing risks in cyber security, some institutions and the government itself depend on perimeter security to protect their most significant and highly confidential data and information from threats and attackers. Needless to say, this is a dated approach today, as there are more advanced threats to cope up with. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has set certain assessment that focuses on data security unlike the former.
Therefore, much importance must be put on cyber security due to the increased rate of cyber crimes happening all over every single day. One must guard any kind of computer data and information from these harmful attackers and also comply with the ever changing security issues and guidelines. The best cyber security practices must be put to use to tackle any attacker and a strict eye must be kept on the most sensitive piece of data or information.
