A computer network is a group of interconnected

computers. Networks may be classified according to a

wide variety of characteristics. This article provides a
general overview of some types and categories and
presents the basic components of a network.
Advantage and factors involving risk on the following topics

 The Advantages (Benefits) of Networking You have undoubtedly heard the “the
whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. This phrase describes networking very
well, and explains why it has become so popular. A network isn't just a bunch of
computers with wires running between them. Properly implemented, a network is a
system that provides its users with unique capabilities, above and beyond what the
individual machines and their software applications can provide.
 Most of the benefits of networking can be divided into two generic categories:
connectivity and sharing. Networks allow computers, and hence their users, to be
connected together. They also allow for the easy sharing of information and
resources, and cooperation between the devices in other ways. Since modern
business depends so much on the intelligent flow and management of information,
this tells you a lot about why networking is so valuable.
 Here, in no particular order, are some of the specific advantages generally associated
with networking:
 Connectivity and Communication: Networks connect computers and the users of
those computers. Individuals within a building or work group can be connected into
local area networks (LANs); LANs in distant locations can be interconnected into
larger wide area networks (WANs). Once connected, it is possible for network users
to communicate with each other using technologies such as electronic mail. This
makes the transmission of business (or non-business) information easier, more
efficient and less expensive than it would be without the network.
Data Sharing: One of the most important uses of networking is to allow the sharing of
data. Before networking was common, an accounting employee who wanted to
prepare a report for her manager would have to produce it on his PC, put it on a
floppy disk, and then walk it over to the manager, who would transfer the data to her
PC's hard disk. (This sort of “shoe-based network” was sometimes sarcastically
called a “sneakernet”.)
True networking allows thousands of employees to share data much more easily and
quickly than this. More so, it makes possible applications that rely on the ability of
many people to access and share the same data, such as databases, group software
development, and much more. Intranets and extranets can be used to distribute
corporate information between sites and to business partners.

 Hardware Sharing: Networks facilitate the sharing of hardware devices. For

example, instead of giving each of 10 employees in a department an expensive color
printer (or resorting to the “sneakernet” again), one printer can be placed on the
network for everyone to share.

 Internet Access: The Internet is itself an enormous network, so whenever you

access the Internet, you are using a network. The significance of the Internet on
modern society is hard to exaggerate, especially for those of us in technical fields.

Internet Access Sharing: Small computer networks allow multiple users to share a
single Internet connection. Special hardware devices allow the bandwidth of the
connection to be easily allocated to various individuals as they need it, and permit an
organization to purchase one high-speed connection instead of many slower ones.

 Data Security and Management: In a business environment, a network allows the

administrators to much better manage the company's critical data. Instead of having
this data spread over dozens or even hundreds of small computers in a haphazard
fashion as their users create it, data can be centralized on shared servers. This
makes it easy for everyone to find the data, makes it possible for the administrators to
ensure that the data is regularly backed up, and also allows for the implementation of
security measures to control who can read or change various pieces of critical
information.

 Performance Enhancement and Balancing: Under some circumstances, a network

can be used to enhance the overall performance of some applications by distributing
the computation tasks to various computers on the network.

 Entertainment: Networks facilitate many types of games and entertainment. The

Internet itself offers many sources of entertainment, of course. In addition, many
multi-player games exist that operate over a local area network. Many home networks
are set up for this reason, and gaming across wide area networks (including the
Internet) has also become quite popular. Of course, if you are running a business and
have easily-amused employees, you might insist that this is really a disadvantage of
networking and not an advantage!
 Factors involving risk in Computer Networking

 - If Sever develops a fault then users may not be able to run the application
programs.
 - A fault in the network can cause user to lose the data.
 -If the network stops operating then it may not be possible to access to various
computers.
 - It is difficult to make the system secure from hackers, novices or industrial
espionage.
 - Decisions on resource planning tend to become centralized.
 - Networks that have grown with little thought can be inefficient in the long
term.
 -As traffic increases on a network the performance degrades unless it is
designed properly.
 - The larger the network becomes difficult to manage.
State any laws and the punishment of the crime enforce by
the law makers

 With the explosive growth of the Internet

worldwide, computer crimes increasingly are
prone to have international dimensions. Some of
the challenges faced by law enforcement on the
international front include: harmonization of
countries' criminal laws; locating and identifying
perpetrators across borders; and securing
electronic evidence of their crimes so that they
may be brought to justice. Complex jurisdictional
issues arise at each step. The Department of
Justice is working with foreign governments
through many channels to address global threats
related to computer crime.
 Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Program
 In 1995, at the recommendation of what was then called the Computer Crime Unit,
and is now the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), the
Department of Justice created the Computer and Telecommunication Coordinator
(CTC) Program to protect the nation's businesses and citizens from the rising tide of
computer crime and intellectual property theft by designating one or more prosecutors
in every U.S. Attorney's Office to be responsible for these issues. In 2001, following a
successful model developed in the Northern District of California that demonstrated
the benefits of a unit of prosecutors working closely with the FBI and other agencies
to establish a relationship with the local high tech community and encourage them to
refer cases to law enforcement, the Department expanded the program in ten cities
by designating Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) units. These units
typically involved more prosecutors than under the CTC program and were
specifically charged with building relationships in-district with the FBI, other agencies,
and the local high tech community. New units have been added frequently thereafter.
In 2005, the CTC and CHIP programs were combined into a unified CHIP program.
More information on the CHIP Program and historical information on the CTC
program is available below.
 Actions taken on such risk on the company concern the
government and you.
 Make sure you have a security policy in place -— The security policy is the
formal statement of rules on how security will be implemented in your
organization. A security policy should define the level of security and the
roles and responsibilities of users, administrators and managers.
 Make sure all of your operating systems and applications are patched with
the latest service packs and hotfixes -— Keeping your systems patched will
close vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers.
 Keep an inventory of your network devices -— Develop and maintain a list of
all hardware/software components, and understand which default software
installations provide weak security configurations.
 Scan TCP/UDP services -— Turn off or remove unnecessary services.
Unneeded services can be the entry point attackers use to gain control of
your system.
 Establish a strong password policy -— Weak passwords could mean a
compromised user account.
 Don't trust code from non-trusted sources.
 Block certain e-mail attachment types -— This list includes .bas, .bat, .exe
and .vbs.
 Don't provide more rights to system resources than necessary -— Implement
the concept of "least privilege".
 Perform your own network security testing -— Find the holes before the
attackers do!
 Implement "defense-in-depth" -— Don't rely on just one control or system to
provide all the security you need.
 Implementation on law enforcers

 The phrase that I hear often from many investigators who feel that technology
is being forced upon them is, "But this is the way we've always done it and it's
always worked. Why change?" We all tend to resist change and we all fear the
unknown.
Now I realize that anyone who has arrived at this page and is reading this article
probably does not fall into this category, but we are the ones who must help
educate our fellow investigators and assist them and be patient with them and
do whatever we can to ease them into the twenty-first century!
 We owe it to ourselves and to the people we protect to use whatever
tools we can to enhance our chances of a successful investigation.
This is not to say that old fashioned police work is out-dated. On the
contrary, modern technology can help give investigators that elusive
starting point, from whence we can use our investigative skills to
identify, track down, interview and interrogate witnesses and
suspects.
These are some of the tools from the realm of computer technology
that we should be educating ourselves about and using:
 Computer Databases
 In any investigative unit, especially units that specialize in pattern crime, unit-
level databases can be utilized for:
Case management
Identification of trends and patterns
Suspect MO files
Statistical analysis
Major case lead control
Equipment inventory
Track parolees
as well as many other uses limited only by one's imagination.

 The Internet
 The internet not only opens us up to a world of information (the life blood of the
investigator), but allows us to see what is going on in other locales, police
departments, organizations, etc. Surveillance photos can be posted for the
public to see. Contacts can be developed with members of other police
organizations world-wide and discussions of any subject conducted.
Information can be transmitted, exchanged or obtained. The internet is so wide
open that we would do ourselves a disservice to not learn everything we can
about it. And, of course, the internet opens many new worlds to the criminal. We
must stay up with him, if not ahead.
