With Valentine’s Day rapidly approaching, we wanted to talk about love, but not in the way you think. We are talking about loving your network and the importance of network security. When was the last time you showed your network any love?

Picture this, your business is a human body and your employees are the heart, without you the company wouldn’t run. Your network is the arteries and veins, they help to transfer data and information around the business, in the same way that arteries and veins carry blood and oxygen around the body.

If the veins and arteries become clogged or faulty, the heart weakens and doesn’t work as efficiently. In the same manner, if your network fails or becomes ineffective, the metaphorical heart, in this case, your employees, will struggle to retain the same level of productivity and their performance will be affected. Just like you need to look after your heart, you also need to show some love for your network security.

What better excuse to start showing love than on Valentine’s Day?

What is Network Security?

Network security is a vital aspect of your business, to protect your employee’s and your client’s data from cyber-attacks. When you have strong network security your network runs smoothy and efficiently. After all, the last thing you want is network lag or connection issues when conducting your business. This is more relevant and important than ever before, with the rapidly increasing popularity of hybrid working and remote working, leaving networks vulnerable to low productivity and cyber-attacks.

What are the different types of network security?

Here are some of the most common applications and tools which keep your network nurtured and safe:

 

  • Firewalls
    A firewall controls incoming and outgoing traffic to your network. They will often come with default settings which can be configured to your specifications to ensure any suspicious activity is rejected or quarantined.

 

  • Access Control
    Access Control Management takes 6thplace in the CIS Critical Security Controls. This security mechanism is a way to control user privileges to ascertain who is allowed access to certain areas of the network. It is especially useful for areas which contain more sensitive data where you can implement the principle of lest privilege. By restricting user access to different areas, you will have more control over your data and can implement strong security policies, which restrict or limit access to non-compliant or guest users.
  • Data Loss Prevention
    This is an important part of network security as it helps to prevent data losses or breaches within your system. With data loss prevention (DLP) tools you can prevent data being exposed to external parties as well as blocking unauthorised access to your network.
  • Network Segmentation
    By using network segmentation, you will find it easier to implement policies for different areas and classification levels of your network. A segmented network makes it easier to allow or deny authorisation credentials for employees, therefore ensuring only those that need to view that section will be allowed access.

How to nurture your network?

Here are a few tips on how you can nurture your network and keep it healthy:

  • Consider the potential threats
    Be aware of your threat landscape and the exposure points on your network.  Ensure you have the right applications and tools to protect your organisation from these risks.
  • Check your network speed
    Slower network speeds affect slow internet loading times. However, when we are looking at larger networks with multiple users this can mean delays in important files being downloaded or connections to VPNs becoming weaker. It could also make access to the cloud slower, which may mean a drop in productivity as employees are spending longer accessing and saving files. We recommend conducting regular checks of your network speeds to ensure there are no drops in performance.
  • Address issues without delay
    If you or one of your employees identify a potential issue, make sure you diagnose the underlying root cause as soon as possible. This may appear to be something as insignificant as VPN connections dropping occasionally or programmes running slightly slower than normal, but this could be a sign of a more severe problem. Any issue or performance drop can potentially cause a weak link in your network, which could give cybercriminals a foothold into your data and folders.
  • Perform regular maintenance checks
    Even if you aren’t experiencing issues with your network ensure you carry out regular maintenance checks and vulnerability scans. By doing this you will be able to keep your systems running smoothly and pick up on any potential issues before they arise.

Why is it so important to love and nurture your network now?

Having a healthy network is more important than ever. During lockdowns and remote working, we saw a significant increase in cyber-attacks, and this hasn’t slowed down. In January 2022 alone, IT Governance, discovered 95 security incidents which resulted in 65,984,648 compromised records. Without showing some love and attention to your networks, vulnerabilities will appear which expose your company to potential data loss and cyber-attacks.

The requirements for having a fast, reliable network are vital in order to keep running an optimal automation platform. With so many aspects of a network to consider and more tools requiring faster and stronger connections, software-defined, wide area networks (or SD-WAN) are high in demand. SD-WAN separates the control and management processes from the underlying networking hardware, making them available as software that can be easily configured and deployed.

Computer Weekly IT Priorities report of 2021, revealed that many companies are looking at upgrading their network in the next 12 months, 34% of companies surveyed, are looking to upgrade their home networking and remote SD-WAN setup, due to the rising popularity of hybrid working. 28% of those surveyed are looking to upgrade their network automation.

With hybrid working becoming the ‘new norm’ for many companies, it is more important than ever to show some love to your network, and ensure you have sophisticated network security implemented. To alleviate security concerns which can come with hybrid working take a look at our previous blog.

 

Why should you invest in good network security?

A comprehensive network security setup will minimise risks such as data breaches, cyber-attacks and unauthorised access.

By investing the time and money into a strong network you are also likely to have a more efficient, satisfied workforce. By nurturing your systems, they will run smoother, with less issues, therefore making it easier for your employees to remain productive and less stressed.

How Axians C&C can help you secure and nurture your network

Here at Axians C&C we believe that a healthy network is one of the pinnacle factors to a happy, healthy company. With the networking expertise from Axians Networks and security pedigree of Axians C&C, we now have the team to provide expertise on both areas.

Contact us today to find out how we can help you show your network some love with our cloud and cybersecurity solutions.