Networking concepts for Sensible Surfing!

Networking is a process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.

A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. Computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other.

Network example: your home Wi-Fi

Internet - a network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer

Router - a network connectivity devicethat can connect multiple network types.It uses routing tables to store Network addresses (route data packets on best available path).

Switch - it examines the header of datapacket and forward it properly to right port [computer MAC address]

Firewall - filters the traffic for Network Security

Server- a computer program or device that provides a service to another computer program.

A MAC address (media access control address) is a 12-digit hexadecimal number assigned to each device connected to the network

How to Find out your Laptop/Computer?

1. Right-click on the Start button and select Command Prompt from the menu.

2. Type in "ipconfig /all"(Windows 10) and press Enter. Type in "ifconfig"(Mac OS) in Terminal and press EnterYour network configurations will display.

3. Scroll down to your network adapter and look for the values next to "Physical Address," which is your MAC address.

What is Networking Protocols?

It is like a language that computers speak when they are connected through a network.

A protocol is a set of rules that govern communication.

For example:

HTTP and HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It uses encryption for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet.

How to findout whether the website that we are browsing is secure and safe?

Do a simple check :

1. Check the URL.A secure URL always begins with “HTTPS” at the start instead of “HTTP”

2. Check the SSL certificate

To check an SSL certificate on any website, all you need to do is follow two simple steps.

1. First, check if the URL of the website begins with HTTPS, where S indicates it has an SSL certificate.

2. Second, click on the padlock icon on the address bar to check all the detailed information related to the certificate.

An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates a website's identity and enables an encrypted connection. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, a security protocol that creates an encrypted link between a web server and a web browser.

For Privacy -- use incognito mode

Now you may be wondering, “What is incognito mode?” Incognito mode is a browsing feature that allows you to surf the web without a record of your search history, cookies, or other temporary data saved on your device.

Cookie : HTTP cookies are small blocks of data created by a web server while a user is browsing a website and placed on the user's computer ( for tracking purpose)

Cache: pronounced CASH --WebBrowsers cache( store data) temporarily in a computing environment or websites. So Clear Cache!

press Ctrl-Shift-Delete (Windows) or Command-Shift-Delete (Mac).

Important: Anti-virus software need to be installed on your computer for protecting your device from viruses

Check all these on your PC and stay Secure!