With the increase in number and severity of business email compromise scams and ransomware attacks over the last few years, network security is even more important to businesses than ever.
Your business needs to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility of your organization’s IT infrastructure—hardware, software, applications, web networks, and data—from both external and internal threats. Network security uses hardware and software to provide three layers of protection: physical, administrative, and technical.
Physical network security means preventing unauthorized personnel from physically accessing hardware components such as routers, cabling cupboards, etc. This is usually accomplished by storing components in areas secured via locks, biometric authentication, etc.
Administrative network security allows you to control user behavior and access, such as which users can access the network, how users are authenticated, and how much access users have. For instance, you can deny access to specific confidential folders or prevent personal devices from accessing the network.
Technical network security protects data on, traveling into, or traveling out of the network from both internal and external threats. This is the network security layer that’s critical in protecting your business from external threats such as viruses, malware, and ransomware. Technical network security can include firewall protection as well as anti-virus and anti-malware software.
A firewall is a software program and/or a physical device that uses administrator-configured rules to allow or block traffic onto the network.
Anti-virus and anti-malware software protect your business from malicious software such as viruses, ransomware, worms, and trojans. The best software scans new files plus scans and tracks existing files continuously.
Technical network security applications also allow network administrators to manage your network traffic more efficiently, enhancing network performance and minimizing downtime.
Looking for a reliable, cost-effective IT outsourcing solution to manage your network security and support problems? NSC Information Technology’s qualified, experienced personnel will thoroughly evaluate your current network support and security structure, including security weaknesses and traffic bottlenecks, and proactively address problems before they are exploited. Our array of services can reliably shield your business from malware threats, hackers, and equipment failure.