Criminals may target your organisation's information systems, resulting in serious financial loss and embarrassment.

• Criminals may target your organisation's information systems, resulting in serious financial loss and damage to your business operations and reputation.

• Verify that the primary safeguards of your network and those of your individual systems are in place. See Managing Network Access Controls and Managing User Access.
• Identify the access points of your network layout, and verify that the current safeguards are operational.
• Consider the following network protection facilities, some of which offer multiple features:-

1. Intrusion detection software which records attempted and successful access to your systems.
2. Pattern (usage) analysis, which identifies changes in on-line activity that may indicate a criminal attack.
3. Access control lists and facilities, which record certain activities for specific files, such as: read, write, execute, and delete.
4. System based accounting records.
5. Network usage analysis, which identifies application access and reports on user authorisation levels.
6. Network packet sniffing software to detect attack origins.
7. URL blockers, (e.g. your firewall) which prevent connection to specific, untrustworthy web sites and / or other computers.
8. Word pattern usage analysis which can help e-mail system administrators track down breaches in e-mail policies.

• See also Developing a Web Site and Structuring E-Commerce Systems including Web Sites.