Chapter 3. Processes and Procedures

“...There’s a time for daring and there’s a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for....”

—Dead Poets Society

“...All he’d wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got?”

—Blade Runner

By the end of this chapter, you should know and be able to explain the following:

• The processes for managing and responding to security advisories within your organization

• Which organizations produce security advisories

• What a zero-day alert is and how you should respond

• Best practices for handling updates

• Define an Access Control List (ACL) and how to use one within a networking environment

Answering these key questions will enable you to understand the overall characteristics and importance of the processes and procedures used in the day-to-day life of a network security technician. By the time you finish this book, you will have a solid appreciation for network security, its issues, how it works, and why it is important.