In the modern world of the growth of technology Internet takes a leading position. However, with Internet evolution hackers also are getting smarter improving tool kits and developing new exploits. Understanding this, many organizations give a lot of attention to their networks security. Firewalls, anti-spyware, data encryption are now used almost everywhere. And, obviously, those who doesn’t use this common security measures is an excellent target for hackers.

But, is it as true as it seems to be. Take a look at the security myths below.

Myth #1. Encryption is 100% effective.

No doubt, data encryption is a must for the networks security. However, John Orbeton, senior security researcher of Zone Labs warns, that modern sniffers can intercept Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Secure Shell (SSH). While encryption standards have several points of vulnerability, it can be used by hackers with the right tools.

Myth #2. Firewalls guarantees protection.

Common thought is that having firewall you can feel safe. Steve Thornburg, an engineer with Mindspeed Technologies says, that it is possible to read the entire IP trail through the best firewalls, and then sniff out the network. Knowing IP trail, hackers can learn details about computers and servers and find vulnerabilities basing on this info.

Myth #3. Macs are totally safe.

A lot of Mac users think they are not vulnerable to attack by hackers. In fact, many Macs run Windows programs or can be networked with Windows hosts, which can expose Macs with Windows vulnerabilities. Gary McGraw, security expert CTO of Cigital, sure that it is only a matter of time before Macs viruses appear. Symantec has issued report where describe more than 30 vulnerabilities of Mac OS X. And it warns that these vulnerabilities can be easily exploited by hackers.

Myth #4. Software patches are totally effective.

It is not always true. There are some tools exist that allows hackers to roll back patches that are distributed through the Windows Update tool. Learning effect of the patch hacker is able to find how it works and then determine how to take advantage of it. New tools are developed every day basing on the usual scanning for vulnerabilities. Today hacker also have an excellent partner in the person of Google. It allows to find unprotected webcams, default server login pages and so on.

Myth #5. Private corporate networks are unreachable for hackers.

Some administrators defends their networks to the death. And the only chance for hackers is when users take their company laptop to an unprotected connection. It even possible for hackers to setup Wi-Fi access point to trick users to logging into their network. After that they can setup a keylogger which can steal password to the company VPN.

Myth #6. Hackers ignore old software.

Some of us think that if we’re running legacy systems, they are not vulnerable to attack by hackers. Because hackers attention is attracted only by widely used software. Not so, says Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer for the SANS Internet Storm Center. He warns that web servers that haven’t been patched recently are a common point of target for hackers. A lot of old versions of Apache and IIS are attacked with buffer overflows.