6 Network Security Best Practices Your Business Should Follow

Ransomware has completely locked you out of crucial files needed to run your business.  Customer names and addresses have been obtained by a cybercriminal to be sold to shadow brokers. Employee names and social security numbers are being distributed as you try to understand what happened and how to stop the madness.

Sounds terrifying, doesn’t it? That’s because it is.

We’ve put together a short list of 6 best practices to follow to avoid these scenarios from ever taking place.

1. Antivirus support and protection

Antivirus is often your first line of defense against malicious programs that are embedded in files trying to worm their way into your system.  Keeping your antivirus updated and enabled on your machines is the key to ensuring proper network protection.

2. Email filtering

The most common way for your network to be attacked is through user targeted emails.  Invest in a sophisticated external email filtering software. It will prevent those malicious files from ever entering your network space.

3. Creating and customizing access controls

Not every user needs access to everything on your network. It’s important to understand who needs what, and why. In the 2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index, IBM found that 60% of all attacks were carried out by insiders. Of these attacks, three-quarters involved malicious intent, and one-quarter involved inadvertent actors.

Setting proper permissions greatly cuts down on these attacks from happening in the first place.

4. Maintain security patches

It may be difficult to keep all the workstations on your network updated with current security patches. Without setting proper update policies, you’re stuck manually updating each computer.

Consider outsourcing the task entirely. With a security professional handling your security patches, you’re free to focus your time on other projects.

5. Educate and train users

The most important line of defense when it comes to network security is education and training. If your users don’t understand how to look for phishing scams or suspicious files, they’re going to open your business up to a world of pain.

Keeping them in the loop entails actively sending them material, as well as regularly testing their knowledge. They don’t have to become overnight experts, mind you – just enough to avoid the obvious scams and viruses.

6. Create a backup plan

Despite your best efforts, it’s functionally impossible to guarantee 100% IT security and safety. Part of being secure and ensuring continued success is being ready in the event of a large data breach.

Crafting a thorough business continuity plan should be a core component of any business-grade network security plan.

The Best Practices for Network Security

A team of network security specialists is the ideal solution for modern businesses that don’t have a large MIS/IT Department. They’re also ideal for businesses looking to remove or supplement their in-house IT security efforts.

A network defense provider can help support in a large variety of areas that are important to the protection and sustainability of your business.  They will protect your time and efforts using a wide variety of network security best practices.