What is the best preventive measure against external security attacks?

What is the best preventive measure against external security attacks?

• A. Securing system access logs
• B. Network address translation
• C. Background checks for temporary employees
• D. Static Internet protocol (IP) addressing

Answer: (B)

The best preventive measure against external security attacks is network address translation (NAT). NAT provides an essential layer of security by allowing multiple devices on a private network to share a single public IP address. This significantly reduces the visibility of internal network structures to external entities, thus making it more challenging for attackers to directly target internal systems. NAT effectively hides the internal IP addresses from the outside world, which complicates an attacker's ability to pinpoint specific vulnerabilities in internal devices. Additionally, NAT can help prevent unauthorized access attempts by not exposing the internal IP addresses directly on the internet. Consequently, while it is not a foolproof security measure, NAT serves as a foundational component in defending against various external threats, contributing to a more robust overall security posture. In contrast, securing system access logs, conducting background checks for temporary employees, and using static IP addressing may serve specific roles in an organization's security strategy, but they do not provide the same level of protective barrier against external attacks as NAT does. Log security helps in post-incident analysis rather than prevention, background checks focus on internal risk factors, and static IP addressing does not inherently add a layer of security against external threats.

The best preventive measure against external security attacks is network address translation (NAT). NAT provides an essential layer of security by allowing multiple devices on a private network to share a single public IP address. This significantly reduces the visibility of internal network structures to external entities, thus making it more challenging for attackers to directly target internal systems.

NAT effectively hides the internal IP addresses from the outside world, which complicates an attacker's ability to pinpoint specific vulnerabilities in internal devices. Additionally, NAT can help prevent unauthorized access attempts by not exposing the internal IP addresses directly on the internet. Consequently, while it is not a foolproof security measure, NAT serves as a foundational component in defending against various external threats, contributing to a more robust overall security posture.

In contrast, securing system access logs, conducting background checks for temporary employees, and using static IP addressing may serve specific roles in an organization's security strategy, but they do not provide the same level of protective barrier against external attacks as NAT does. Log security helps in post-incident analysis rather than prevention, background checks focus on internal risk factors, and static IP addressing does not inherently add a layer of security against external threats.