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FINAL WORD
The nine most vital
network security
best practices
Sam Kumarsamy, Senior Product Marketing Manager,
Gigamon, says it’s an old truism that an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure. He adds that
while this saying is relevant in most aspects of daily
life, it becomes especially appropriate when applied
to business network security.
T
hanks to the Internet, individuals,
businesses and computer systems
can now share sensitive data among
one another more easily than ever before,
but there’s a downside to this near universal
connectivity: network attacks are becoming
more and more prevalent.
According to a recent PwC Global Economic
Crime Survey, 32% of organisations have
experienced illegal data breaches, making
cybercrime the second-most reported
economic crime in the world. At the same
time, IBM reports that within the US the
average data breach ends up costing the
targeted business approximately US$7.35
million. Attacks are becoming more frequent.
With so many threats and so much at stake,
even the best network security teams are
struggling to keep up. The good news is
that there are measures you can take to
protect your business against the range
of cybersecurity dangers that threaten it.
We’ve compiled them into a single list of
nine network security best practices. Read on
to see how with a little prevention you can
optimise your network security plans.
THE NETWORK SECURITY BEST
PRACTICE CHECKLIST
1. Maintain your software
Network attacks are evolving, and
yesterday’s solutions may not be enough
to counter tomorrow’s threats. This is
why one of the most essential – yet most
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basic – network security best practices is
keeping your antivirus software current.
Up-to-date virus software will incorporate
tested solutions to some of the most
recent known exploits. As such, software
updates should be installed immediately
as they become available. The most
effective antivirus options can protect
you in over 90% of instances. However,
no single solution is fool proof, and as
threats become more advanced, ongoing
antivirus audits and supplemental
systems are becoming just as important
as installing the latest patches.
2. Make visibility your top priority
We tend to view our networks as walled
fortresses trying to repel incoming
enemy attacks, but sometimes it’s the
people inside the walls who are the
bigger danger. Nearly 75% of all data
breaches are a direct result of insider
threats and of those threats, 68% can
be attributed to employee or contractor
negligence (only 22% of insider threats
are intentional). The solution? Improved
network visibility.Constantly monitoring
users within your network may be the
single-most important security policy
you adopt. After all, if you can’t see it,
you can’t secure it. By tracking internal
network use, you can improve your
situational awareness and see what
actions may be compromising your
network security. You can then move to
correct those actions before they turn
into something more serious.
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