Introduction to Host Based Cyber Defense

There is a lot of attention given in the computer security community to network security. Viruses, trojans, spyware and other malware come from the computer network. IT departments often concentrate on network firewalls, IDS and IPS systems to protect their network. Although these are important parts of a computer security plan, paying attention to the individual computer is also is important to the overall computer security strategy. Several things can be done to secure the computer such as control access to the computer, practice logging, scan for malware, practice patching, categorizing data, practice encryption and perform regular backups. Just as important as any of the above is to keep abreast of current and upcoming computer security technology and news. A whole research paper or project could easily be written about each of the subjects in this paper. This is an overview of each topic and will raise the readers' awareness about host based security concerns. The spirit of this document is as the following Chinese proverb: 'Feed a man a fish feed him for a meal. Teach a man to fish feed him for a lifetime'.