In today's web environment, security should be a top priority for any business. Your IT infrastructure is vulnerable to numerous threats on the web, hence comprehensive security is a must. Neglecting security may come with detrimental consequences. It can prove to be costly and can hurt your brand, your stakeholders. Since most business transactions are now done electronically, server and IT security becomes a priority as it ensures that your data and your customers’ information are protected.
In this blog post, we share some of the network security best practices that will help your organization establish a functional and effective security setup to deal with common security threats that businesses face.
Physical Security of Network Infrastructure
When we think network security no one pays heed to the physical aspect of it. Probably the last thing that comes to mind. Just imagine if someone can simply walk into your server room and plug in a USB thumb drive all intrusion detection systems will mean nothing. It’s important to give physical security the same importance as it plays a mitigating role in risks such as theft, vandalism, or physical attacks.
Those with malicious intent can gain unauthorized access to your physical infrastructure if the physical security is lax. The absence of it is an opportunity to steal or damage critical IT assets, get access to admin terminals for mission-critical applications, and steal data or upload malware onto your network via USB. Therefore, in order to prevent such attacks, one needs to put physical security controls or the first line of defence in place.
Get started with implementing few physical security controls
Physical access control measures such as biometric access controls, and video monitoring, for server rooms, network closets, etc.
Restricted or limited control access to your office premises via reception desk, the use of access badges, sign-in log, etc.
Visitors to be escorted in and out of controlled areas within the premises.
Access to network infrastructure devices such as servers, routers, firewalls, etc should be restricted.
And the good old locks to secure computers and other systems physically.
Network Segmentation
Any device that connects to your network can access all your network's infrastructure. So, if a hacker gets into one device on your network, they could spread malware or access your whole network. To prevent this, you need systems that can contain the threat and stop it from spreading. Segmenting your network into logical units can help limit the damage of a successful network breach.
By breaking up your network into different segments, you make it more difficult for attackers to access and wreak havoc on your entire system. This technique is known as network segmentation. Another way to protect your data is by using air-gapped backup servers, which are not connected to the internet, making them much harder to hack. However, be careful when implementing these solutions as they can have negative consequences and might not be the best option depending on the situation.
For example, different business functions or units such as sales, tech support, operations, etc. can have a separate service set identifier (SSID) and virtual LAN (VLAN). It can be separated by using routers or switches or by configuring a group of ports on a network switch to behave as a separate network. The network devices will run on a separate VLAN being on the same network hardware.
A Centralized Log Management
Log files are like a diary for your computer, software, or operating system. They keep track of everything that happens and changes in the system. This information is really important for cybersecurity professionals who need to find errors, see patterns, and discover any strange behaviour. They are automatically generated by applications running in a server environment and are an essential part of security as they provide information about how the system is performing.
Therefor a detailed analysis of log files becomes an important process and is used by cybersecurity professionals to find errors, set benchmarks and trends, and detect anomalies. It can be extremely time consuming as looking through log files is a tedious process. One needs to check manually errors on hundreds, or even thousands of log files. That’s why a CLM (Centralized Log Management) is required as it consolidates all log data into a central interface thus making the log data more accessible and easier to use. Apart from consolidating these solutions also offer other functionalities such as:
Retaining log files for a specific duration
Makes search easy for files within and outside log files
Allows to generate alerts based on set metrics and benchmarks
Provision to create visual dashboards and analytical reports
The use of CLM helps you to strengthen your security, improve threat detection, prevent attacks. It also helps you to recreate events that occur so that you can easily locate vulnerabilities and take appropriate measures.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a security tool that helps organizations keep their internal resources, like databases and corporate intranets, safe when employees access them remotely. VPNs use strong security features, like encryption and authentication protocols, to prevent unauthorized access and snooping. It has become a necessity for organizations that allow remote work and especially where the business relies on employee mobility and for services such as onsite sales and support. It ensures that your employees can access company resources over public networks without compromising the integrity of your network.
Security Automation
Any change, no matter how small, to your business process or IT infrastructure can have a ripple effect on the state of your network security. The addition of new elements, such as IoT devices or the adoption of new applications, can open up new attack surfaces. In addition, it is not uncommon for errors, such as misconfiguration, omissions, or delays, to occur in any work environment.
There are some tasks which, though not difficult, are very time-consuming. These low-complexity, high-volume tasks commonly associated with threat detection and investigation can be automated. This not only saves your engineers the time they would spend on these mundane tasks, but also allows for more accurate results.
For example, automation can be used to separate false alerts from real threats. Every organization receives thousands of security alerts every day, and it would be impossible to sort through them all manually.
Final words…
Summing it up, would say that the network security best practices covered in this blog offer efficient ways for your organization to proactively move towards better IT & network security and is by no means an exhaustive list. However, the above recommendations can get you started on strengthening your network security and meet your security goals and compliance requirements. Until next time, hope the blog proves to be a guide that would help you to identify security vulnerabilities, mitigate security risks, and improve threat detection and prevention across your network infrastructure.
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