IT Security is paramount to the uninterrupted running of network operations. Unfortunately, for many companies IT security means anti-virus or malware protection...and nothing else. It's easy to allow the news of hackers taking down mutil-billion dollar businesses with one calculated effort influence the security decisions your company makes. However offputting these scenarios are, remember that a strong IT posture is dependant on a multifacted approach to protecting your network. Here are four steps, that you can start today, to improve the overall IT security of your business.
1. Vulnerability and Penetration Testing
This function makes use of both software scans and simulated hacking attacks in order to determine what vulnerabilities that exist in a system. Only then can those vulnerabilities be addressed with additional or more advanced software and hardware systems designed to better secure the company's network and information assets. This type of testing does not usually incorporate a network-wide security assessment, but instead concentrates on the perimeter and the ability for outsiders to make their way inside without proper authorization.
Penetration testing can be a one-time event, but IT companies usually wish to take a more robust approach that involves periodic random testing using remote access in order to get a much better picture of the network's strengths and weaknesses over time.
2. Perimeter Management
Another remote service is perimeter management, in which firewalls and other systems such as Virtual Private Networks and intrusion detection systems are installed and upgraded. Perimeter management also includes the IT company managing configuration settings remotely so that both hardware and software function at peak levels of performance to secure the system.
3. Remote Monitoring
Most people in the business world think of this first when they hear the term ‘managed security’. Remote monitoring generally takes place on a continuous basis in order to keep track of important system events and interpret them to determine if they pose a risk to the company's information systems or data.
Remote monitoring involves tracking all unauthorized behavior on the network as well as tracking inbound connections that may consist of hacking attempts of denial of service attacks. This category of managed security also includes analysis of security trends inside the system so that troublesome patterns can be identified and remediated as quickly as possible.
IT services providing managed security can also encompass compliance monitoring, in which software is constantly scanning the network for changes so that anomalous ones that do not meet the company's official policies can be flagged immediately. For example, if a system administrator grants himself or herself additional security privileges, this should be noted immediately in case the level of access is too high for the job functions the individual needs to perform.
IT security challenges are changing every day. That's why it's important to adopt the best, and most protected, technology to ensure security for your business. Click the button below for our guide on the future of IT models - 9 Benefit of Hybrid IT Models.