5 Vital Network Security Best Practices

Network security has become a hot topic of conversation throughout the past year. Business owners are struggling to comprehend that a single threat to your network could take the whole thing down.

An example is the Fortinet Firewall Hack that leaked a list of almost 500,000 VPN login names and passwords that were allegedly scraped from exploitable devices.

This leak is a serious incident as the VPN credentials could allow threat actors to access networks to perform data exfiltration, install malware and perform ransomware attacks on all affected devices.

The good news is that there are measures you can take to protect your business against the range of cybersecurity dangers that threaten it.

Below are 5 simple things you can do to optimize your network security plans today:

1. Make Visibility a Priority

Many view their networks as walled fortresses trying to block incoming attacks from intruders.  But truth be told, sometimes it’s the people inside the walls who are the bigger danger. 

Constantly monitoring users within your network may be the single-most important security policy you adopt. After all, if you can’t see it, you can’t secure it!

By tracking internal network use, you can improve your situational awareness and see what actions may be compromising your network security. You can then move to correct those actions before they turn into something more serious.

2. Ensure Regular Software Updates and Patch Management

Did you know that 27% of reported breaches were the result of unpatched vulnerabilities?

Updating and patching software is crucial to preventing exploitation via any known vulnerabilities in applications. Always install available security patches and updates for all software as soon as possible!

3. Stay Compliant

Your organization isn’t the only one that wants to keep you safe from intruders. Businesses are adamant about keeping their data out of malicious hands, and that means that the government is also interested.

Federal and local government rules exist to help ensure data security, and businesses and other organizations are expected to comply. Regulations provide a number of reliable network security best practices around policies and procedures that can keep you customers and your business safe. If you want to keep your network secure, don’t let your compliance slip!

4. Back Up Your Data

Maintain your data separate from the rest of your network. By doing so, you’ll have a recent version of your data to fall back on in the event of a cyberattack. Despite this, only about half of businesses keep a data backup and only 36% of enterprises have a complete data backup. 

Be sure to regularly back up your entire network. This will ensure that no single breach has the capacity to completely obliterate the information your company depends on. You can learn more about the importance of backing up your data by listening to our webinar!

5. Educate Your Staff

Comprehensive security awareness training is one of the best ways to help protect your business from malicious actors and prevent possible breaches. Your employees can be the weakest link in your security chain — but they can also be the first line of defense against a cyberattack if you train them! 

Well-trained employees know the best tactics to prevent, respond to and recover from an attack, thus making your network security that much stronger!

Want to learn more? Listen in to our interactive webinar and see for yourself how training your employees will completely shift your security posture!

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