network security checklist – SolvereOne https://www.solvereone.com SolvereOne Site Mon, 28 Oct 2024 20:59:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 Network Security Checklist for Small Businesses in Northern Virginia – Pt 2 https://www.solvereone.com/network-security-checklist-small-businesses-northern-virginia-pt-2/ Mon, 28 Oct 2024 20:52:43 +0000 https://www.solvereone.com/?p=10890

Network Security Checklist for SMB’s in Northern Virginia

For Northern Virginia small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), it’s critical that your data stays secure so that you maintain trust with your clients. As the digital world continues to grow, cyber threats are gaining more and more sophistication; they are now targeting any business, large or small. Even a single data breach can have devastating financial and reputational damages for the SMBs.

Our Network Security Checklist is meant to be a helpful guide in developing a firm foundation for security measures, diminishing vulnerabilities, and being less vulnerable to cyber attacks. This guide will walk you through the steps from evaluating risks to optimization activities to help safeguard your business in today’s digital environment.

Data Backup and Recovery

network security checklistNo business is truly secure without a backup and recovery plan. Regular backups ensure that a data disaster—a natural disaster, human error, corrupted file, or ransomware attack—can not jeopardize your business.

A recovery plan includes regularly testing your backups and being prepared to reload your entire business network infrastructure from your “most recent save” if necessary.

Password Policies

Strong passwords and multi-factor authentication can significantly increase your small business network security by decreasing the risk of stolen user accounts. Protect employees and customers with these policies by implementing password and MFA requirements.

Strong password requirements suggest ten or more characters, including capital letters, special characters, and numbers. Neither the first nor last character can be one of the special ones. Providing password creation training can also help your team create strong passwords every time, and more easily update them every year or so.

MFA, or multi-factor authentication, sends an email or text with a link or one-time code with each new login attempt. Not only does this stop hackers from using stolen passwords, but it also provides an immediate alert if a hacker tries to use someone else’s account due to an unrequested code being sent.

Tips to Create Strong Password

Most people find creating and remembering strong passwords tedious and difficult. But it doesn’t have to be. Real pros know a few tricks to create complex and strong passwords that are surprisingly easy to remember. Use the following tips to train your team to create strong passwords any time one is needed.

  • Create an Acronym:

    "The quick brown fox wrote this password so I can remember it easily"
    "tqbfwtpsicrie"

  • Use Unusual Multi-Word Combos:

    "firedaffodilmonkey"
    "flyingsheepgoat"

  • Make It Funny

    If the acronym or phrase makes you laugh, you'll remember it more easily.

  • Replace a Few Letters for Numbers and Symbols

    "flyingsheepgoat"
    "fly!ngSheepgO@t"

  • Capitalize Points of Emphasis

    "flyinGSheepGo@t

Mobile Device Security

Mobile devices can pose a serious risk to network security because they connect automatically to any Wi-Fi nearby (including infected networks worldwide) and might also be carrying malware from an employee’s personal browsing and downloading activities.

It is important to secure your business network from unknown mobile devices and any mobile devices used for business purposes.

First, establish a guest device network that is securely separate from the company network and regularly purged, just in case. Then, they require employees to use secured company devices or submit them to the company for securing procedures such as virus scanning and encryption if they want to use personal devices for business activities.

Network Monitoring

cyber criminals using chatGPTThe final item on your small business network security checklist is network monitoring. This automated and manned monitoring solution first learns your network baselines—the normal data and resource usage for your business operations. It will then red-flag any activity out of place, such as sudden large downloads, access from new locations and IP addresses, or new and unauthorized use of network resources.

These network behaviors can indicate malware or malfeasance and allow you to catch the early signs of a network breach before damage is done. For this reason, continuous network monitoring is an essential detection and prevention technique.

Some Final Words

Northern Virginia small businesses have everything to gain from robust network security and continuous monitoring.  Keep your company operations and protected data safe with this network security checklist. Contact us for a free consultation on your initial network assessment and get started on your network security checklist today.
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