There is no doubt that today’s networks are incredibly diverse and often go beyond single environments. And because each environment has unique standards, the diversity becomes even more complex. These are the challenges that IT personnel face when they look at improving their network security strategies.

Workers put in their hours at remote locations, companies adopt multi-cloud solutions and hybrid networks, and the internet of things (IoT) has become yet another complexity that must be dealt with, so these are the added elements that should be considered when planning network security. Success can be achieved if you adopt cyber security throughout your edges, whether it’s the cloud, wide area network (WAN) or local area network (LAN).

Be Aware of Cyber Security Threats

Cyber criminals don’t discriminate between victims. Large or small, they’ll target any business. They look for vulnerabilities and exploit them as fast as they can. If you’re one of the many organizations out there that hasn’t taken network security planning seriously, you’re going to have plenty of vulnerabilities that need to be shored up.

Your strategy should include ensuring your network security is integrated, because doing this will prevent your devices from being misconfigured – which is one area that hackers are fast to exploit. They go after missing patches and can be present for weeks or longer before they’re noticed. By that time, the damage is done and now you’re in disaster recovery mode.

Network Security Best Practices

Planning your strategy is no small feat, but by following what others have done to reduce their cyber security risk, you can get a good start.

Infrastructure

Knowing your network infrastructure is incredibly important and might require a careful audit if you have a multitude of IoT devices and certificates. Your infrastructure detail should include everything from routers, switches, and printers to software and firewalls.

Education

All users should have awareness training so they can identify suspicious activity and be accountable for their actions while on your network. And this shouldn’t only happen during orientation – it should be an ongoing requirement because technology changes frequently, as do the tactics of cyber criminals.

Patch Management

Nearly 30% of breaches occur because of misconfigured patches. It can’t be overstated – your approach to patching is of utmost importance.

Monitoring Solutions

It’s hard to protect yourself against something when you’re not clued-in to a potential threat. Automated monitoring systems can continuously watch your traffic, red flag oddities, and give you a chance at stopping a threat before it becomes serious.

Working with an agent is also a recommendation for building and implementing a network security strategy. At eXemplify, we know it’s easy to feel helpless when cyber security threats become so much more sophisticated. We offer managed security services that will take the strain off your IT team and give you assurances that your data is protected. Contact us and let’s talk about our approach to assisting our clients.