Self-Defending Networks: The Next Generation of Network Security

Chapter 9. Cisco Security Manager

This book details how a layered defense is the best defense to protect a network against attacks. A layered defense as part of a self-defending network is similar to layered defenses in sports such as football and soccer. These sports have an initial defense against the opposition followed by additional layers of defense closer to the critical resource of the team. In a soccer or football analogy, the critical resource is the goal, and in a network environment, the critical resource is often a server or remote PC. In the sports analogy, a layered defense is only effective if the different layers are implementing a consistent strategy and are on the same page as to what they are trying to accomplish. For example, ...