5 Network Security Best Practices You Should Adopt (If You Haven't Already)
Published: October 31, 2022
As we come to the close of cybersecurity month, it might be useful to review a checklist to make sure that when it comes to best practices, you’re implementing the right policies to give you the best shot at avoiding an unauthorized intrusion. These 5 network security principles are vital requirements for your path towards a comprehensive strategy that protects your network and the devices and resources attached to it.
1. Risk Assessment
First things first. You’ve got to do a baseline to see where you’re at and establish some goals for your network security. Prioritize the most important resources to protect, and if you have the means, consider hiring an expert that specializes in network penetration.
2. Zero Trust Approach
William Shakespeare famously said, “Love all, trust a few,” in his play, “All’s Well that Ends Well.” Well, William never had to protect a network from hackers. Trust no one. Trust no device. Make sure the entire staff strictly adheres to proper security practices. Zero means zero.
3. Network Visibility
You can’t protect what you can’t see. You can’t mount a defense if you don’t know what’s connected to your network. Invest in analytics that will give you a full view of what’s connecting to and traveling over your network. If you can get real-time data, even better. If you can link different types of security data and leverage machine learning to analyze it, even better.
4. Policy-based Access Control
Control network access with policy-based access control. Think about it like entering a stadium to watch a sporting event. When you get on the stadium grounds, you have to pass security (zero-trust), and then you need to show your ticket which defines what seat you get, general admission, the stadium boxes or the VIP suites. Tailoring access to your environment makes it easier to manage and ensures consistency.
5. Network Segmentation
At this point, we know a little something about isolation and quarantining, don’t we? If we don’t want an outbreak to spread, the more we can contain it, the less damage it can do. The same thing for an unauthorized intrusion. Leveraging network segmentation ensures that if a person does compromise your network, the impact of the incident is limited to one segment and that’s all. If your network isn’t segmented, you might want to look into the benefits of fabric technology.