Common Enterprise Networking Security Threats and Ways to Mitigate Them

Cybersecurity is more vital than ever in the present day. With ever-increasing dangers to businesses, having a solid security solution is vital.

FREMONT, CA: Network security is essential in reducing the risk of a data breach as more businesses migrate to the cloud. Threat actors can get the foothold needed to continue attacks across numerous systems by acquiring access to networks. And for threat actors, no organisation seems small. Research says that 98 per cent of the claims filed came from small- to medium-sized businesses with yearly revenues under USD 2 billion. Understanding the risks involved in the current landscape and then coming up with a strategy to deal with them is the best method to protect the company network from cybersecurity threats.

Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.

Every company needs to be aware of these four cyber security dangers. They must, among other things, make sure that employees use secure passwords, keep the number of inactive devices, accounts, and software to a minimum, abstain from using software that has reached the End of Support, and solidify their firewall and antivirus policies.

Poor Firewall and Antimalware Practices

Configurations of firewalls can be both a security control and a weakness in terms of security. Firewalls that are adequately configured only permit authorised connections to a network of a company. Organisations typically employ allow-and-deny policies that accept only trusted IP addresses while blocking all others. Firewall rules and settings reduce risk by preventing access to unidentified devices or sources because each device or source has a unique IP address.

However, misconfigured firewalls may allow access from unidentified sources or devices. For instance, a data breach occurred in an organisation as a result of threat actors being able to search the network for firewall errors that allowed them to spread ransomware through an unidentified, untrusted device.

Organisations should seek solutions like these to reduce this network risk:

• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Detect all network-connected devices and keep track of their behaviour to increase visibility.
• Extended Detection and Response (XDR): XDR advances threat detection and response by integrating machine learning, integrated analytics, and threat intelligence across security data including endpoints, email inboxes, server workloads, and network security layers. 

While EDR provides a starting point, XDR ultimately represents a more effective strategy for reducing endpoint security concerns. Many businesses, meanwhile, find it difficult to run these solutions independently.

Small and medium-sized businesses can employ managed detection and response (MDR) as a service to improve their security posture. Organisations can profit from XDR with MDR while outsourcing the services to lighten the load on internal staff.

• Cloud/Server Workloads: Gain visibility into any potential lateral system movement to identify and contain threats early in the attack lifecycle.
• EDR: Use activity data and telemetry to detect suspicious behaviour while utilising context.
• Email Security: Gain visibility into potentially compromised endpoints to lower the risk of phishing
• Network security: Use network analysis tools to gain insight into unmanaged devices, legacy systems, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices to spot activities. Using network intrusion prevention tools, hostile traffic is immediately blocked, putting an end to an attack before it even starts.

Inactive Devices and Software

Devices and apps that use the network become access points that threat actors can exploit during an attack because remote access is increasingly the primary means of conducting business. Since inactive hardware, software, and user accounts are frequently not checked, threat actors can exploit them covertly. When a major credit rating organisation faced a data breach, for example, threat actors used a device that had been idle for nineteen months. When the organisation updated the security certificate, aberrant traffic was detected, indicating a compromise.

To mitigate these kinds of risks, multiple organisations implement a network scanner to detect network devices and software. Another strategy to prevent network access hazards is to evaluate user accounts for workforce members who have just left their jobs.

Password Security

Although password security may appear to be a simple idea, it is essential for securing networks from unauthorised access. Password security is crucial for efficient corporate operations since on-premises and remote users frequently need logins to utilise basic business software. Organisations must adopt and implement strict password policies to reduce the danger.

Organisations may want to consider providing users with a password management solution to assist enforce the password policy. Enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) can help improve password security. Given that the fingerprints and objects are specific to the user and prohibit remote threat actors from accessing the account, MFA makes it more difficult for threat actors to obtain access to a network.

Users with inactive accounts are either people who have been gone from their jobs for a long time or those who have left the company but whose accounts have not been deactivated. The attack surface against an organisation can be decreased by monitoring these accounts and deleting them when they are no longer required.

The complexity of network security is rising, particularly as more remote users access the network. Network security demands complete awareness of every possible threat actor access point. Many organisations find it difficult to handle network security on their own as a result. However, safeguarding the Internet ought not to be complicated. Without the requirement for a complete staff dedicated to security, organisations can access cutting-edge technological solutions and the experience of seasoned network security specialists through Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Services. MDR gives organisations of all sizes a method to advance their security without having to undertake all the effort internally while they continue to search for a cost-effective security solution.