You may have come here because you own your own network. Maybe you purchased an SD-WAN product or MPLS and have your own network connection to your remote employees or connections to your other branches.
Either way, making sure your network environment is secure is very important. If your network is not secured properly, you could be a victim of data breaches or cyber-attacks.
But how do you do that? How do you ensure that your data is safe and your network is secure?
You can do a few things to ensure your network environment is secure. Making sure your network has a firewall, using security on your WIFI, hiding your SSID, and password reset enforcement are all things you will learn about in this article.
Here at Coeo, we service hundreds of customers per year on telecommunications products and we pride ourselves on making sure our potential and existing customers are continually educated on everything telecommunications.
In this article, you’ll learn about the two types of tests to measure how secure your network is and four tools that you can integrate to ensure your network is secure moving forward.
In order to do that, we will discuss the four security tools listed above that you can integrate to maintain security.
Additionally, we will discuss penetration testing as well as vulnerability scanning you can do to check your network security.
2 techniques to test your network security
On top of all of the ways that you can make sure your network is as secure as possible, you never actually know 100% that your network is as secure as you want it to be.
Thankfully, there are a couple of ways including, penetration testing and vulnerability scanning that tests your network security to make sure you are getting the security you need.
● Penetration testing
Penetration testing simulates a cyber-attack on your computer system with the hopes of discovering exploitation points. This test also tests IT breach security to find any holes that may lead to cyber-attacks.
Consistent penetration testing can help you obtain expert, unbiased feedback on your organization’s security process from a third-party source.
Because this third-party source has no tie to your company, you can ensure that these tests are as honest and correct as possible.
● Vulnerability scanning
Vulnerability scanning is a computer program that assesses computers, networks, or applications for any holes or weaknesses. This can help in finding the weakness of any given network system.
There are a few different types of vulnerability scanning that you can perform on your company’s network security.
● External vulnerability scans
External vulnerability scans test the areas of your IT ecosystem that are exposed to the internet such as websites, ports, services, networks, systems, and applications that are accessed by external users.
● Internal vulnerability scans
Internal vulnerability scans test your internal corporate network to identify vulnerabilities that leave damage after a cyber attack has penetrated your network environment.
● Environmental scans
Environmental scans test the environment that your network operates in whether it be cloud-based or loT devices to ensure your network is not operating in a vulnerable spot.
● Intrusive and non-intrusive scans
Intrusive scans attempt to get rid of a vulnerability when it is detected and non-intrusive scans only identify and report on the vulnerability that way you or your provider may fix it.
Some things you can do to ensure network security
There are multiple things you can do and invest in to make sure your network is secure. Most of these things are integrated into the products that you are purchasing to produce your network connection.
For example, SD-WAN and SASE have security implemented into their products. But in case you don’t have these tools already, here are some ways you can protect your network:
● Firewalls
Integrating a firewall or firewalls into your network is a great idea if you don't already have one. You can rely on a regular firewall or you can purchase a managed firewall from a company to take care of for you.
Firewalls are essentially the first line of defense for your network and are a big reason why your network might be secure or not.
● Secure WIFI
Another big technique to maintain network security is to make sure you have a secure WIFI connection. This may be a basic technique but it is very important in securing your network.
Making sure you have a secure quality router is very important. In addition to this, using antivirus, antimalware, and a virtual private network to encrypt traffic and mask your location are just some of the ways that you can secure your WIFI.
● Hiding SSID
Hiding your SSID will keep random people and attackers off your network and helps secure your network better. A Service Set Identifier or SSID is the name of your wireless network.
Hidden SSIDs may still be found by determined hackers and cyber-attackers however it is much more difficult for an attacker to execute an attack successfully if your SSID is hidden.
● Password reset enforcement
Password reset enforcement is when you are forced to reset your password after a specific amount of time. This can be enforced automatically or manually.
Password reset enforcement ensures that passwords are always new and safe making it harder for hackers and attackers to figure out passwords to get into your network to access your data.
Next steps you can take to make sure your network environment is secure
Now that you have learned everything there is to know on how to secure your network and how you can test out your own network security, you can ensure your company’s network will be as safe as possible.
Nobody wants to be a victim of a data breach or any kind of cyber-attack which is why it is a good idea to make sure your network environment is always secure.
This article helps you protect your network better and ensure your network and your private data is secure.
Here at Coeo, we hope to make our future and current customers as educated as possible when it comes to all things related to telecommunications.
If you would like to speak with our team to learn more about network security or ask any questions you may have you can schedule an appointment. 
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