Information technology is evolving at a breakneck pace, and every day, it seems like there’s a new way to create, process, and store data, among other things. But unfettered progress also has its dangers. Businesses have to act fast to safeguard their networks and data from new cyber threats that erupt more quickly before they can be fully understood.
We often see or read news reports about our country’s network infrastructure being attacked by belligerent nations. While your business most likely won’t be targeted by state-sponsored cybercriminals, you still need to take measures to protect your network from security vulnerabilities such as SpectreRSB.
A compromised network can lead to intellectual property theft, data leaks, and loss of public trust. You might even expose yourself to liability. Here’s how to keep your network infrastructure safe and secure:
1. Create an incident response plan
You need to act quickly and decisively when responding to a cyberattack. If your network has been compromised, time is of the essence to avoid material and reputational losses. That’s why network administrators are some of the most critical roles in cybersecurity. To ensure continuity of service in the event of a data breach, you need an incident response plan.
Ad hoc decision-making allows for flexibility but also drastically increases the likelihood of mistakes. Having a response plan in place will enable you to prepare for an attack before it even happens. You have to assign responsibilities to key personnel, set benchmarks, and plan scenarios and solutions.
Afterward, you need to make sure the team can respond quickly to cyber threats. Testing the scenarios through simulations allows you to identify holes in the plan and craft a revised solution.
2. Patch software within the network
Updating applications and systems within the network allows you to stay ahead of threat actors, even if it’s just for a brief moment. Vulnerabilities manifest in many forms, such as hardware design flaws. While a simple update can fix many software vulnerabilities, others may require digging and customized remediation.
Every bug is a potential entry point that a threat actor can exploit, which is why it’s important to keep software updated regularly.
3. Audit your data
Data tends to get lost in the mix, particularly in large networks. If you don’t know where the information is stored or what it looks like, you can’t protect it from external threats. To keep your network safe from threat actors, you need to perform regular data audits.
A data audit should reveal which systems store what kinds of data. Your priority should be safeguarding critical information such as intellectual property, intranetwork communications, customer data, and other sensitive information. Ideally, all data should be stored behind a secure firewall, but limitations may require you to allocate resources according to need.
These pointers should help you secure your network against external attacks. Proactive security measures such as response plans and regular updates go a long way in ensuring network security. You also might want to undergo a security audit to ensure your organization is prepared for current and future threats.
