10 Ways to Improve Network Security and Protect Your Business

Protecting the integrity of your network and the data that travels across it is vital to your business. It’s important to invest in security technologies like firewalls, encryption and access control to keep your data safe.

While there are many ways to protect your business from threats, here are ten best practices for ensuring cyber attack prevention:

1. Build a strong perimeter defense with firewalls

A firewall is a tool used to protect your network from external threats by filtering packets between your internal network and the internet. This prevents unauthorized users from accessing sensitive information on your network or accessing the internet itself.

2. Tighten access controls for file sharing services

File sharing services like Dropbox can be a great way to share files with other team members or clients, but this can also open up vulnerabilities if they are not properly monitored by IT professionals. This means that you need to set up policies that allow only authorized users full access to these services, while restricting others from downloading or sharing files without permission.

3. Implement a password management system

Implementing a password management system is one of the best ways you can improve network security and protect your business. It’s important to have a strong password for each device that connects to your network, and it’s also vital that you keep these passwords safe. If an employee leaves your company or forgets their password, they could potentially access sensitive information or even spy on other employees.

4. Change default usernames and passwords

The default username and password on most devices is often the same as the ones used with other devices on the same network. This makes it easy for hackers to gain access to other devices in the network. This is why it’s important to change these default usernames and passwords before allowing users to log in using their own accounts.

5. Encrypt sensitive data

Encrypting sensitive data can help protect against hackers who may attempt to steal information from your network by breaking into systems or networks that store this information. Encryption can be done through software as well as hardware encryption solutions, such as using a hardware encryption module or using an encrypted flash drive instead of storing sensitive data on an unencrypted hard drive.

6. Use strong encryption

Encryption is one of the best ways to protect your data from prying eyes. With encryption, information becomes unreadable unless it has been deciphered using a special key or passcode. This means that anyone trying to access your data will need both the key and the passcode in order to view it — which means they will have to do something like break into your computer or steal your password in order to gain access to your files.

7. Keep track of all activity on your network

Another way you can improve network security is by keeping track of all activity on your network — especially when it comes to activities such as file sharing or sharing customers’ information with third parties like sales reps or contractors. In fact, businesses that don’t keep track of activity could end up paying more than those who do.

8. Use two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication is an important way for businesses to protect their networks from hackers and other malicious individuals who want to gain access into their networks. It requires something additional than just a password in order to gain access into the system, which makes it harder for someone else to get into your network without your permission.

9. Install antivirus software

Antivirus software is one of the most inexpensive ways that businesses can improve their network security by using an antivirus program on every computer within their network.

10. Employee awareness

Creating employee awareness can help improve network security, helping with business data protection. Sensitize your team and enlighten every employee about network security and what to do to ensure cyber attack prevention. Mobilize them to create strong paswords that are not easy to guess.