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IT Security

6 Things To Include In Your Network Audit Checklist

An enterprise-grade Network Audit Service can immensely enhance your network’s performance. From BYOD to bandwidth needs, these are the 6 points you necessitate to incorporate into your Network Audit checklist:

The manner in which your organization’s network can break down you may appear to be unending. IT experts are started off with making sure seamless connectivity and execution, but with so many problems that can impede production, IT experts are usually started shooting in the dark. The result? Irregular coverage, moderate speeds, safety risks…the listing continues on. So, how do companies go about providing a top-performing network? Possibly the many important initial actions are the network audit.
Performing a network audit is key to assuring the dependability and functionality of your company’s network. Except you do this effort superiority, your network will never work as well as it should. For a number of causes, it’s remarkably essential to have a comprehensive knowledge of what devices are connected to the network. In this article, you’ll uncork the information you should incorporate in your network audit checklist and learn about the advantages of accompanying a network inventory.

1. Audit Your BYOD Policy:

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) can barely be called a policy at this point; it is more a reality of life for any organization. Workers will bring their personal devices to work and connect them to the enterprise network, bringing with them improved bandwidth requirements, security hazards, and slower rates. That stated, BYOD can (and must) still be maintained. This should be done with accurate, well-designed policies. When it comes to making BYOD strategies, a number of challenges subsist, encompassing the use of overlooked hardware, display to unsecured networks and unapproved third-party apps, just to mention a few.
Auditing your BYOD policy will enable you to see precisely which devices are relating to your network, what sorts of vulnerabilities they are revealing, who is accountable for managing those devices, and how you can reduce your network’s vulnerability moving forward.
A BYOD policy audit should start by questioning if you have an affirmed and bracing BYOD Policy at all. This would comprise obvious policies governing the employment of own devices, how they should be allowed to communicate with distinct elements of the network, and which stakeholders are accountable for step-in-aid of the execution and applying these policies.
A complete network evaluation from HEX64 InfoSolutions implies a precise review of your company’s BYOD policies. Monitoring BYOD accessories is important here. Network monitoring software solutions can be applied to examine and observe the devices attached to your network.

 

IT Security & Audit Services

2. Assess Your Network’s Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities:

Cybersecurity vulnerabilities are infirmities that can be efficiently abused by wicked actors to obtain illegal access to your network. (Technically talking, this is different from a “threat” or “risk,” which is the possible impact of an exploited vulnerability.) Cybersecurity vulnerabilities can remain in hardware, software, and also your physical space. Several well-known vulnerabilities can be marked immediately and autonomously, but recognizing and closing a preponderance of them will need a trained network audit.
Individual devices include a renowned vulnerability in most networks. As explained above, companies must have a clear, complete, and enforceable BYOD policy in a position to assure that phones, tablets, and laptops do not reveal the network to threat actors.
Weak password management stands at the top of the list of most popular vulnerabilities. Simple passwords like “password” and “12345” can be broken quickly, and easy-to-guess passwords can be obtained through brute force without much further trouble. Good passwords without proper encryption express yet another common vulnerability.
Outmoded security patches on third-party applications are another easy-to-fix (yet simple) cybersecurity hazard. Users may observe safety updates as a problem, but spending 10 minutes while a computer or device updates can build a significant variation in cybersecurity. Acquiring top-of-the-line software and services will not be profitable if your representatives don’t efficiently use those services. A network review is the most efficient method to identify all of these concerns.


3. Audit Your Network’s Bandwidth Demands:

Your network has a limited amount of bandwidth that needs to be shared amongst your users. Monitoring and understanding the usage and sharing of that bandwidth will enable you to determine if the network requires to be increased or if personal devices or applications necessitate being marked.

The most reliable way to do this is with network monitoring software. The interface will enable you to examine which users and devices are accessing the network — and what they’re performing on it.
Possessing a clear understanding of bandwidth usage will enable network administrators to recognize where the blockage is happening, which applications must be put first, and which applications should be de-prioritized. Enhancing performance may not even need decreasing usage or enhancing capability, but simply more meticulous controlling the stream of traffic.

It’s also crucial to resemble your wired and wireless links to find bottlenecks. To completely understand where your concentration should be given you’ll require decent network management software and/or, ideally, an expert network audit.


4. Audit the Problems in Your Network Infrastructure

Network Infrastructure involves both the software and hardware including your system. Hardware incorporates wires, switches, and access points, while software comprises operating systems, applications, firewalls, and the same. (Infrastructure usually does not cover endpoints like servers or individual devices.) A number of network infrastructure mapping tools exist to assist IT administrators assess their networks, but partnering with skilled professionals will produce the most authentic results.
We’ve previously considered a few infrastructure concerns like assuring that patches are up-to-date and monitoring bandwidth patterns to find problems with network traffic. Other common infrastructure problems involve overlooked firewalls or load balancers creating interruptions. Such conditions can usually wreak destruction for days while IT experts seek out the problem’s cause. A absolute network map can considerably decrease the time to diagnose and address such difficulties.


5. Audit Your Network’s Data and File Security:

Data and file security are two of the most important concerns of overall network protection. Knowing how an organization consolidates, stores, and obtains sensitive information is as vital to your network’s safety as anything else.
Once deemed an asset, inadequately-secured data can instantly convert into a major responsibility. A good data security policy starts with reducing the compilation of external data — particularly data that is both external and sensitive, likely starting the company up to regulatory problems. And who has access to that data? There are extremely rare files that each user on your network requires access to (and probably none that each user requires to be capable of updating).
At a minimum, any mobile device that obtains or stores business information should be configured for user identification and secure authentication, should run current anti-malware software and must use virtual private networking (VPN) connects to reach the corporate network.”
A file security audit likely starts with eliminating the public setting as the default for folders, and then thoughtfully revising which users should be given access to sensitive information. Companies can then allow ongoing file auditing to control access and modifications to delicate files. (Enabling ongoing monitoring for all data could present too many log events.)


6. Consider Network Upgrades for Greater Performance:

Finally, the most significant phase of a network audit is the step taken in acknowledgement of the findings. Companies should not assume that their job is done with the network audit only. The word “upgrade” apparently calls to mind hardware, and an expert site visit may expose that a network requires more access points (or less, to stop interruption), or updated cabling to provide WiFi 6, for example. But network upgrades could also involve the improvement of more open policies or firmware updates.
However, one of the most usual problems of weak network performance is pretty simply that your network is in desperate requirement of a hardware upgrade. A thoughtfully planned network upgrade can support determine your organization’s connectivity problems and enhance the user experience. In the enterprise setting, effective and secure network performance is required for managing productivity and maintaining significant operations running easily.
Only with complete and detailed information about the capability needed to run many devices and applications will your network experts be capable to apply the most auspicious upgrades and solutions to meet your needs. A network inventory and a full network evaluation can be remarkably important for IT departments, giving the insight required to perform targeted upgrades with optimal cost-efficiency.
Don’t submit to intermittent network breakdown or less-than-optimal performance. Now, it’s time to evaluate the robustness of your network and streamline the functionality of your IT infrastructure with a full network audit. You can get the initial step by using this free network evaluation tool.

Or, if you’re able to schedule an expert network audit, get in touch with the network experts at HEX64.  With almost three decades of experience, our extremely-credentialed team holds the expertise required to assure that your network audit produces actual outcomes. Contact us to schedule your expert network audit today.

One thought on “6 Things To Include In Your Network Audit Checklist”

  1. Genuinely thank you for this information. The article has truly peaked my interest for providing network audit checklist.

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