Network Security Auditing For Organizations Throughout Vancouver, British Columbia
Key Takeaways
- The cybersecurity threat level has risen 400% in the recent past
- 85.7% of Canadian businesses suffered a cyberattack in 2021
- A network security audit lowers your vulnerability to cyberattacks
- An audit can protect your business from hackers and improves compliance to help avoid expensive fines and penalties.
Besides tanking the global economy, the pandemic unleashed a horde of marauding cybercriminals on unsuspecting criminals. Cyber-attacks rose 400% as many people worked from home on unsecured networks, and Canada was no exception.
Phishing attacks, ransomware, and data breaches are common cybersecurity threats in Canada. In 2020, 78% of Canadian businesses suffered a cyberattack, but the number rose to 85.7% in 2021. Over 61% of Canadian companies fell victim to ransomware in 2021.
Hackers focus on smaller businesses as large companies become increasingly impenetrable. Such firms present softer targets as they have poor network security infrastructure. Hackers commandeer unsecured networks and use them as bases to target larger corporations in Canada.
What is Network Security Audit?
A network security audit is crucial in safeguarding your business from online threats and cybercriminals. It’s a systematic process that examines the state of your security systems, IT controls, security processes, and your risk mitigation procedures and policies.
A network audit helps identify the threats, vulnerabilities, and possible compromises, while ensuring your company meets all regulatory requirements. Only qualified IT professionals with security and network management experience should conduct a network audit. Typically, an IT expert will analyze five aspects of your network system when carrying out an audit:
- Network security
- Network availability
- Control implementation
- Overall performance
- Management practices
Fixing any issues that the audit unearths improves your network security and lowers your firm’s vulnerability to cyberattacks.
Why is Network Security Audits Important?
Network security audits are a crucial part of your network security. They improve your company’s ability to withstand and repel sophisticated cyberattacks. An audit checks the state of your network, roots out weaknesses, and tests your ability to withstand the latest cyber threats.
Besides identifying security threats, a network audit also gauges and improves your ability to protect valuable data and information. Besides draining your business accounts, hackers often target businesses for valuable information. They target business secrets and customer data such as credit card information, social security, names, and addresses.
An audit will help you identify hardware and software problems that could leave your business vulnerable. Hackers exploit such vulnerabilities to gain access to your system and cause you to incur huge losses.
A network audit can help you improve weak company practices and policies to comply with ever-changing regulations. The government is constantly rolling out new compliance measures as the online environment becomes increasingly hostile. An audit gauges your compliance level and helps you take corrective actions to avoid hefty fines and penalties.
What Does a Network Security Report Include?
Each network security audit must examine static and dynamic data. Static data testing focuses on systems, policies, and password rules. Dynamic data tests center on data access, user login activity, and file transfer. A network security report is a comprehensive document that includes the following:
- A detailed analysis of your network security measures
- A risk assessment of your application, processes, and functions
- An in-depth review of your IT policies and procedures
- Detailed insights into your data protection controls and technology
- A review of your firewall security and configuration
Network Security Audit Checklist
Since a network security audit is broad, this simple checklist covers the essential elements of a successful audit.
Determine Potential Threats
The level of exposure may vary, but the threat profile in Canada includes the following:
- Employee exposure through phishing attacks
- Malware such as spyware, trojan horses, and ransomware
- Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) attacks
- Misuse of sensitive information
- Physical breaches
- Attacks on IoT and BYOD devices
Review Internal Policies
Businesses use multiple policies to protect their networks, including:
- Network security policy
- Acceptable use policy
- Remote access policy
- Encryption policy
- BYOD policy
Evaluate the Password Policy
Assessing your current password strategy is crucial to eliminating vulnerabilities.
- Mandate the use of strong passwords
- Discourage shared passwords
- Enable two-factor authentication
- Mandate routine password changes
Check Data Security
Hackers value sensitive data, so you should take extraordinary steps to protect all valuable data in your ecosystem.
- Limit access to sensitive data
- Enable privileged data access
- Enact read-only access
- Consider storing sensitive data in different storage
Evaluate Internet Safety
Providing safe internet access to employees reduces online vulnerabilities.
- Consider data encryption
- Scan all content for malware
- Upgrade your wireless technology and equipment
How to Perform a Network Security Audit
Successful network security audits comprise five comprehensive steps that cover every aspect of your business network.
Map All Network Devices
Endpoint devices—desktops, laptops, mobile devices, tablets, servers, and workstations—are often highly vulnerable. Hackers often target these devices to gain access to your network. Tracking and mapping all devices on your network can identify and check all devices for vulnerability. An audit delivers a network diagram with all the gadgets and operating systems. With this information, an IT expert can identify and help fix the discovered vulnerabilities.
Identify Network Policies
A network security audit checks whether your business follows standard security policies and procedures. It’s one thing to have exceptional policies and procedures and another to follow them. An audit reveals how well you and your employees comply with your network security protocols. An auditor will use these protocols to asses if the company meets the IT security requirements. They can use your security policies and procedures to identify areas needing improvement.
Risk Assessment
A risk assessment will identify any risks you face in your daily business operations and the potential impact of these risks on your business. Cybersecurity attacks pose a significant threat to your business operations, integrity, and reputation and could result in substantial financial losses.
Risk assessments are often ongoing to identify new threats, monitor changing risk levels, and establish the best control environment.
Network Penetration Testing
Network penetration testing mirrors a cyberattack minus the adverse effects. A penetration expert, often a skilled IT professional, will run a simulated attack on your network. They will test all the aspects and facets of your network to identify any vulnerabilities that a criminal element might exploit. Some organizations may require your business to run a network penetration test before they can work with you.
Reporting
The final step entails generating a detailed report of the network security audit. The report provides an exhaustive list of discovered risks, vulnerabilities, and shortcomings. It gives your insights into the state of your network while highlighting internal and external security threats. The report will often categorize the threats by severity to let you prioritize fixing the most vulnerable areas. Typically, you should take all threats seriously and fix any shortcomings that an audit report unveils.
Protect Your Business from Online Threats
A network security audit is an affordable way to safeguard your computer network and protect your business from marauding cybercriminals. Most IT experts can fit an audit to fit any budget and help you root out crucial vulnerabilities. Auditing your network lets you fix the problems before hackers can exploit them and damage your business.
