Introduction

What this chapter covers

The Introduction sets the vocabulary and the mindset for the rest of the MikroTik security course.

It explains what an attack is, which security services a network needs and which mechanisms deliver them. It then lists the threats that hit routers most often and ends with a practical checklist for a safe RouterOS deployment.

None of the pages need prior security experience. They do assume that you can already work with a RouterOS console and know the basics of IP networking.

How the topics fit together

The chapter moves from theory to practice in three steps.

First you learn the words. An attack is the action, a service is the goal and a mechanism is the tool. With those words in place, the threats page shows what attackers actually do, such as scanning, sniffing, spoofing, flooding and guessing passwords.

The last page turns the ideas into work. It walks through updates, users, services, discovery, the firewall, logs and backups, with the console commands for each step.

How to use these pages

Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.

• What it is: the idea in plain words.
• How it works: the mechanism, with diagrams and console examples.
• What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorise.
• Common mistakes: the classic traps.
• Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.

Read the three pages in order the first time. Later, use the checklist page as a quick reference whenever you set up a new router.

If you have a lab router or a virtual RouterOS machine, try each console example there. Typing a command teaches more than reading it, and a lab is the safe place to make a mistake.