10 Things You Need to Do Network Security Properly

What Is Network Security? 

Network security involves measures to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of data and networks. It ensures that resources are safe from unauthorized access and threats. It includes the use of software tools, hardware devices, and processes to guard against unauthorized actions. Using these tools, organizations maintain control over their data transmissions, prevent breaches, and mitigate potential damage from cyber-attacks.

Network security is a multi-layered approach. It must be flexible enough to address evolving threats and the dynamic nature of modern hybrid environments. Components include firewalls, anti-malware systems, behavioral analysis, and encryption technologies. These work together to detect, prevent, and respond to threats rapidly.

Common Network Security Threats 

Malware and Ransomware

Malware includes a variety of malicious software, including viruses, worms, and trojans, which infiltrate and damage network infrastructure. This malicious code often exploits vulnerabilities in systems, allowing unauthorized access or causing system failures. Ransomware, a form of malware, encrypts users’ files, demanding a ransom to restore access. 

These attacks can cripple organizations by bringing operations to a halt until the ransom is paid or systems are restored from backups. Protection against malware and ransomware requires a multifaceted approach. This includes employing antivirus software for detection and removal, conducting regular system updates to patch vulnerabilities, and ensuring all data is securely backed up.

This is part of a series of articles about information security.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are social engineering tactics used to deceive users into revealing sensitive information such as passwords or credit card numbers. This is often accomplished through deceptive emails or malicious websites masquerading as legitimate entities. Phishing exploits human psychology, relying on perceived trustworthiness to coax users into providing confidential information.

Mitigating phishing risks involves user education to discern genuine communications from deceptive ones. Implementing email filters and email security solutions can help in identifying and blocking phishing emails before they reach users. Organizations should enforce multi-factor authentication, adding an extra security layer.

Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks

Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks aim to disrupt the availability of services by overwhelming a network with illegitimate traffic. These attacks cause system delays or complete shutdowns, impacting the accessibility of resources by legitimate users. DoS attacks often target web servers, cloud services, and critical infrastructure, causing service downtime.

To fend off DoS attacks, bandwidth management strategies and traffic filtering mechanisms are vital. Implementing network redundancy and distributed network architecture can help absorb and mitigate the impact. Intrusion detection systems can identify and stop DoS attack patterns early. For large scale attacks, cloud-based DDoS mitigation services can absorb huge volumes of malicious traffic while allowing legitimate traffic to pass through. 

Insider Threats

Insider threats involve malicious activities by individuals within an organization who have authorized access to its network. These threats can be intentional or accidental, resulting from anything from disgruntled employees, to corporate espionage, to human error. Insider threats pose unique challenges due to the privileged access these individuals often have, making their activities harder to track.

Organizations must implement strict access controls and monitor internal user activities to mitigate insider threats. Regularly reviewing and adjusting user permissions can prevent excess access to sensitive data. Employing behavioral analytics tools can flag unusual activities, enabling timely intervention.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

Advanced persistent threats (APTs) are stealthy network attacks where unauthorized users gain access and remain undetected over extended periods. APTs aim for prolonged surveillance and data extraction, often targeting critical infrastructure and sensitive information. These sophisticated attacks require advanced technologies and skill sets, often associated with state-sponsored hackers.

APTs’ complexity requires a proactive and layered defense strategy. Comprehensive monitoring and anomaly detection systems enable early identification of suspicious behaviors. Regular security assessments and penetration testing can highlight vulnerabilities before exploitation. Threat intelligence services provide insights into emerging APT tactics and techniques.

10 Essential Components of Network Security 

1. Access Control and Authentication

Access control and authentication are key components in preventing unauthorized access to network resources. Access control mechanisms limit who can view or use information, while authentication verifies user identities. By combining these controls, organizations can ensure that only authorized individuals gain access to sensitive data and systems.

Setting strong password policies, employing biometric verification, and implementing role-based access control (RBAC) are common practices. Additionally, logging and monitoring user access and activities aid in detecting anomalies.

2. Firewalls and Next-Generation Firewalls

Firewalls act as barriers that control incoming and outgoing network traffic. Traditional firewalls filter traffic based on predefined security rules, while next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) expand these capabilities by inspecting deeper into the data packets. NGFWs integrate additional functions like intrusion prevention and application awareness, improving network protection.

Deploying NGFWs involves configuring rules that reflect the organization’s security policies. These strategies generally include application control, user identity management, and advanced threat prevention. Maintaining updated rule sets and real-time monitoring improves their effectiveness against evolving threats.

Learn more in our detailed guide to network security firewall

3. Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS)

Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) detect and thwart potentially harmful network activities. These systems analyze network traffic and identify signs of harmful actions or breaches, alerting administrators or automatically blocking the suspect traffic. They help detect intrusions in real time and can prevent breaches by performing immediate actions.

A well-tuned IDPS system must be carefully configured to recognize legitimate traffic patterns, minimizing false positives. Consistent updates and continuous monitoring improve their capabilities against advanced and unknown threats. Implementing an IDPS complements existing security frameworks.

4. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Security information and event management (SIEM) systems provide real-time analysis of security alerts generated by network hardware and applications. By aggregating and correlating log data from various sources, SIEM systems offer insights into potential security threats and operational inefficiencies, improving overall incident detection and response capabilities.

Deploying SIEM effectively requires integration with existing IT infrastructure and continuous tuning to minimize false positives. SIEM can automate routine security tasks and offer advanced threat detection algorithms, optimizing resource use.

5. Behavioral Analytics and Monitoring

Behavioral analytics and monitoring detect anomalies by analyzing baseline user behaviors. This approach identifies unusual actions that could indicate security breaches, such as unauthorized data access or unknowingly installed malware. It provides early threat detection, enabling faster response and mitigation of potential risks.

User and Entity Behavioral Analytics (UEBA), the current generation of behavioral analytics technology, uses machine learning models to learn from historical data, establishing a baseline for each user or entity accessing the network and identifying significant anomalies from these baselines. Integrating these systems with existing security frameworks improves their ability to identify advanced and emerging threats.

Tips from the expert

Steve Moore is Vice President and Chief Security Strategist at Exabeam, helping drive solutions for threat detection and advising customers on security programs and breach response. He is the host of the “The New CISO Podcast,” a Forbes Tech Council member, and Co-founder of TEN18 at Exabeam.

In my experience, here are tips that can help you better strengthen network security:

1. Leverage zero trust architecture (ZTA): Implement a zero trust model where no entity (inside or outside the network) is automatically trusted. Enforce identity verification, endpoint health checks, and least-privilege access policies dynamically.
2. Use honeypots and deception technologies: Deploy decoy systems or files to attract attackers and monitor their activities. These tools can provide valuable insights into attacker tactics and help improve defenses.
3. Prioritize DNS security: Secure the DNS infrastructure to block malicious domains and detect data exfiltration attempts. Employ DNS filtering and monitor for unusual DNS query patterns as part of the threat detection strategy.
4. Establish a rigorous threat hunting program: Go beyond reactive measures by proactively searching for threats within the network. Equip teams with threat intelligence, advanced analytics tools, and attack behavior frameworks (like MITRE ATT&CK).
5. Adopt microsegmentation for sensitive workloads: Divide the network into granular, isolated segments using microsegmentation. By creating logical boundaries, attackers face more obstacles in lateral movement.

6. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

Virtual private networks (VPNs) create secure and encrypted connections over public networks, protecting data from interception. This technology is commonly used to connect remote users securely to corporate networks, enabling safe data transmission over unsecured internet connections. VPNs encrypt data, ensuring confidentiality and integrity during transit.

Establishing a VPN involves using strong encryption protocols and secure authentication methods, which protect against unauthorized access.

7. Network Segmentation and Microsegmentation

Network segmentation involves dividing a network into smaller, isolated segments to limit access and reduce the attack surface. By creating logical boundaries, organizations can control traffic flow between segments, ensuring that sensitive data and critical systems remain isolated from less secure areas. For example, segmenting user workstations from server environments can prevent unauthorized access to sensitive resources in the event of a breach.

Microsegmentation takes this approach further by applying granular policies at the workload or application level. Instead of segmenting large network sections, microsegmentation isolates individual workloads or devices. This minimizes lateral movement, making it more difficult for attackers to compromise multiple systems. Employing software-defined networking (SDN) and zero trust principles enhances the effectiveness of microsegmentation, ensuring fine-tuned security for modern hybrid environments.

8. Inspecting Encrypted Traffic

As encryption becomes more widespread with protocols like TLS 1.3 now becoming mainstream, nearly 80% of traffic coming through the firewall today is encrypted which is why inspecting it is a growing challenge in network security. While encryption protects data confidentiality, it also creates blind spots that attackers can exploit like when payloads are downloaded from a TLS-protected C2 server in a trojan horse attack. Organizations often use man-in-the-middle (MITM) inspection or SSL/TLS decryption proxies to analyze encrypted traffic for threats before it reaches the endpoint.

MiTM inspection helps detect malware, prevent data exfiltration, enforce compliance policies, and improve network visibility. By decrypting traffic, security tools such as intrusion prevention systems and data loss prevention solutions can analyze content that would otherwise be hidden. However, this approach has significant drawbacks. It can introduce privacy concerns, violate regulatory requirements, and create security risks if decryption keys are mishandled. Performance degradation is another issue, as decrypting and re-encrypting traffic adds latency and increases processing demands. Some encryption protocols, like TLS 1.3, also limit the ability to perform passive decryption, forcing organizations to adapt their inspection strategies. Furthermore only a small percentage of organizations do MiTM inspection since it causes many things to “break” causing service disruptions and is often seen as more work than it is worth. Firewall vendors consistently preach that one must do MiTM inspection of SSL and TLS traffic since it requires a more powerful firewall (think of an increase in expense) or a vendor may try to differentiate off of a purpose-built ASIC chip for the task. 

A balanced approach involves selectively decrypting high-risk traffic while maintaining privacy for sensitive data, using zero trust principles to validate users before inspecting encrypted content, and deploying secure proxy solutions that minimize vulnerabilities. As encryption standards evolve, organizations must continuously adjust their inspection methods to maintain visibility while ensuring compliance and security.

9. Anti-Malware Solutions

Anti-malware software helps protect networks from malicious code. These programs scan and identify malicious software, providing protection against viruses, worms, malware, and spyware. They typically employ signature-based detection, heuristics, and machine learning to identify and eliminate threats before they cause damage.

For maximum protection, organizations should keep anti-virus and anti-malware solutions up-to-date, ensuring they have the latest signatures for new threats. Implementing regular system scans and alternate strategies, such as behavioral analysis, helps detect new malware variants.

10. Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Data loss prevention (DLP) strategies focus on preventing unauthorized data access and transmission. DLP technologies monitor and control data movement across networks, ensuring sensitive information is not leaked intentionally or accidentally. This is crucial for retaining information integrity and compliance with data protection regulations.

Implementing DLP requires identifying sensitive data categories and creating policies to protect them. These policies should govern data access, movement, and sharing. Using DLP tools, organizations can enforce stringent security measures and detect potential data leaks.

Network Security vs. Network Monitoring 

Network security focuses on protecting the network from unauthorized access, attacks, and breaches. Its primary goal is to prevent malicious activities by implementing tools like firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), and encryption. Security measures actively block or mitigate threats to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and services.

Network monitoring involves the continuous observation and analysis of network performance and activity. Its purpose is to identify anomalies, bottlenecks, or potential failures in real-time. Monitoring tools collect data on bandwidth usage, device status, and network traffic, providing insights to maintain optimal performance and detect unusual patterns that could indicate security threats.

Although distinct, these practices overlap. For instance, network monitoring can detect early signs of a security breach, such as unusual traffic spikes or unauthorized data transfers, which can then inform network security responses. Integrating both approaches ensures a strong defense, combining proactive protection with real-time visibility into network health.

5 Best Practices for Network Security 

Organizations can bolster their network security by implementing the following best practices.

1. Regular Software and Security Updates

Regular software and security updates are important for protecting networks against known vulnerabilities. Continuous updates ensure systems and applications are fortified against identified threats. Vendors frequently release patches to fix vulnerabilities, highlight improved security measures, and increase software stability.

Organizations should implement patch management strategies to simplify the update process. Automating updates where feasible reduces human error risks and ensures timely deployment. Educating staff about the importance of updates can foster a culture of security awareness.

2. Employee Training and Awareness Programs

Employee training and awareness programs are vital for bolstering network security. Educating staff about prevailing cyber threats and safe computing practices mitigates risk factors like phishing and inadvertent data breaches. Well-informed employees are better equipped to identify and report suspicious activities swiftly.

Regular conducting of security workshops and simulations helps reinforce training objectives. Organizations should tailor programs to their threat landscape and regularly update content to reflect evolving threats. By encouraging a security-centric mindset at all organizational levels, organizations improve their defenses considerably.

3. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Implementing multi-factor authentication strengthens security by requiring users to present multiple forms of verification before accessing network resources. MFA significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access by adding an extra layer of security beyond just passwords, which are susceptible to compromise.

Organizations should adopt MFA for all sensitive applications and systems. Integrating biometry or hardware tokens can ensure more secure and user-friendly authentication processes.

4. Conduct Regular Security Assessments and Audits

Regular security assessments and audits are crucial in identifying potential vulnerabilities and ensuring compliance with security policies. By periodically reviewing network configurations, security measures, and access controls, organizations can uncover and address weaknesses proactively.

Engaging third-party experts for audits can provide unbiased insights into security posture. Post-assessment, organizations should prioritize rectifying identified vulnerabilities and updating security protocols.

5. Develop and Test Incident Response Plans

Developing and testing incident response plans prepare organizations to handle security breaches. A structured plan accelerates response times, minimizes damage, and aids in quick recovery. It outlines responsibilities, communication strategies, and mitigation procedures to contain and remediate incidents.

Regular testing of these plans through simulations and drills ensures preparedness and effectiveness. Incorporating lessons learned into plan updates improves resilience against future incidents.

Exabeam: Quickly Gain Visibility into Your Entire Environment​ with NetMon

Network monitoring can also play an essential role in detecting, neutralizing, and recovering from cyberattacks. SOC teams need full visibility into their organization’s networks to detect these threats, perform proper forensic investigations, support audits, and identify operational issues. NetMon adds an additional, powerful layer to your security stack. Available as an appliance or a virtual machine in your network infrastructure or an add-on to your Exabeam deployment, NetMon delivers more detailed network visibility than next-generation firewalls, intrusion detection systems/intrusion prevention systems (IDS/ IPS), or other common network equipment. 

Detect advanced threats with market-leading application recognition, script-based analytics across network and application data, and rich data for centralized scenario-based analytics. Immediately capture, analyze, and record network traffic, leveraging NetMon dashboards for powerful and insightful information about your network​. And take your investigation further with Deep Packet Analytics (DPA). DPA builds on the NetMon Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) engine to interpret network traffic, including immediate recognition of PII, credit card information, port and protocol mismatch, and other key indicators of compromise (IOCs). DPA allows for continuous correlation against full packet payloads and metadata using prebuilt and custom rule sets and provides unprecedented control over alarming and response at the flow and packet level. Through DPA rules, your SOC can automate threat detection that was previously only possible via manual packet analysis.

By tying together firewall data, network monitoring, user activity, and automated detection, Exabeam empowers security teams to move beyond alerts to actionable intelligence, ensuring faster, more accurate threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR).

Learn more about NetMon