With so many people working from home, it is important to make sure your company’s network is secure. Employees can be susceptible to phishing, baiting, and other cyberattacks. Are you prepared for these threats? There are a few ways to check network security yourself but calling in a managed service provider (MSP) is often the best way to ensure everything is protected.
Steps for Checking the Network Yourself
To ensure your network’s security, you can begin by taking a few steps yourself. This will provide you with an idea of any weak spots in your network’s security system. From outside attacks to internal mistakes, there are many threats to your network, so establishing its security is paramount to protecting your business.
Test your firewall for weaknesses
The first place to start when checking your network’s security is the firewall. This system monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on security rules. A firewall provides a barrier between a trusted network and unwanted visitors. It is a good idea to test this system to ensure unauthorized connections can’t get through. There are services that will test your computer’s ports and report back if it breaches your defenses, but this is something you would only want to try with a trusted company.
Evaluate the strength of your antivirus
It is a good idea to determine whether your antivirus is active and working correctly. Antivirus software should continuously scan your computer for threats, warn you about any detected threats, prevent you from accessing suspicious files or websites, and remove the threat.
Review your browsing protocol
When accessing a website, it is important to check the protocol. A website that uses HTTP protocol sends “plaintext,” which means nothing encrypts the data between you and the target server.
However, HTTPS protocol does encrypt your data, so your information is hidden and your connection is secure. If you are going to log into a website, it should show HTTPS in the URL. If an HTTP URL appears on a site you would normally log in to, it is likely malware has redirected you to a fake site that looks like the real thing so the hackers can get your account details.
Secure your router
A router is a hub for your employees’ home internet connections, and it is a key target for hackers because it handles who can and can’t use the connection. To secure the router, use a WPA2 for the wi-fi key, make sure the passwords are complex, and change the SSID for extra protection.
Check your VPN connection for leaks
A virtual private network (VPN) should allow your employees to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the actual private network. Employees can double-check that the VPN is hiding their information by using a service that tests whether their traffic “leaks” your real details. Again, making sure the service you use is a trusted company.
How an MSP Can Help
As you can see, checking the security of a website is time-consuming and complicated. It is also easy to make a mistake if the team doing the testing does not have IT experience. To ensure your company’s network is protected, turn to an MSP like ATSG. ATSG can protect your company by assessing its network, applications, endpoints, databases, user practices, and physical access controls. These internal and external assessments can determine vulnerabilities, and the ATSG can help you develop a solution that will withstand threats from malicious attackers.
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