What is network infrastructure security? Steps to secure network infrastructure

Introduction

Critical government facilities and multinational organizations are always on the radar of unethical hackers with malicious intent, making them highly vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks. Hackers target these institutions for a variety of reasons, including financial gain, data theft, political purposes, and so on. Let's take a look at a few of the major cyber-attacks that occurred in the year 2022 in order to better understand this emerging threat or to understand why secure network infrastructure is a need of the hour.

• Hackers breached the Red Cross network in January 2022, gaining access to data on over 500,000 people.
• In the same month, January 2022, the Greek government discovered a cyberattack attempt to hack into 60 parliamentary accounts.
• According to a UN report published in February 2022, North Korean hackers stole more than $400 million from cryptocurrency exchanges between 2020 and June 2021.

Following the Russia-Ukraine war in March 2022, hackers targeted multiple Russian government websites, including the Energy Ministry, the Federal Penitentiary Service, and others.

It should be noted that these are only a few examples of recent network infrastructure security breaches. To get a sense of how serious the threat of cyber attacks has become around the world, look at this data– the total cost of all cybercrime damages in 2021 is expected to be around $6 trillion globally.

So the question is, how would you combat these attacks, or how would you safeguard an organization's wireless network infrastructure or its data from such security vulnerabilities?

Among the various strategies, the most effective is to secure your databases or IT systems with secure network infrastructure services.

Let's find out what this process is, what steps it takes, and how viable this solution is.

Related Read: Managed SD-WAN services: What it is (and its benefits)

Defining network infrastructure security

In layman's terms, building a secure network infrastructure is an approach to protecting your IT infrastructure, including software, hardware, and services, from internal or external threats by implementing a security strategy. Further, it comprises various sub-strategies designed for diverse software and hardware types. Some of the most common types are:

• Firewalls
• Antivirus Protection
• Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• Intrusion Detection System
• Security Applications
• Operating Systems

The motive behind embracing secure network infrastructure solutions is to fortify an organization's IT environment. However, while this task may appear to be simple, it involves several subtasks, including strategy implementation, maintenance, and a regular active process.

Remember that each device, software, or service present on wireless network infrastructure can be a point of entry for hackers to gain access to the system. For this reason, it is critical that each component of IT infrastructure be cared for and secured.

Some of the critical devices that can be used as a point of entry for a cyberattack or should be protected include:

• Routers
• IP addressing
• Switches & Cables
• Dedicated Server
• T-1 Lines
• Wireless Protocols
• Load-balancers
• Domain Name System (DNS)
• Endpoints

Each of the components mentioned here may contain vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit through various attacks such as denial-of-service, spam, unauthorized access, or malware.

You can protect your organization from such attacks by implementing secure network infrastructure services or methods such as,

• Network and functions segmentation
• Limit unnecessary lateral communication
• Secure access to infrastructure devices
• Increase the security of network devices
• Perform out-of-band network management (OoB)
• Verify the hardware and software integrity

Following these practices will not only solidify your wireless network infrastructure but will also provide you with multiple other benefits such as improved resource sharing, productivity gains, secure internal communication, compartmentalization and secure files, data protection, and so on.

However, as previously stated, in order to reap all of the benefits of secure network infrastructure solutions, several security operations must be carried out in a coordinated manner. The following section explains some of the most critical steps to securing your network.

4 Key steps to secure network infrastructure

The four major steps to protect your network from hackers and protect your data, reputation, and business are as follows. Let's take a quick look at each of them.

1. Perform a network security audit

The first step toward building a secure network infrastructure is to conduct a network security audit on a regular basis. It is a technical evaluation of the organization's IT infrastructure that assesses the policies, applications, software, hardware, operating systems, and all other network components. The procedure can be manual or automated.

During this process, the five key aspects to which the team should pay the most attention are:

A. Network Security

B. Control Implementation

C. Network Availability

D. Management Practices

E.  Overall Network Performance

This process primarily aims to identify potential threats to your system, secure the databases, locate and fix hardware problems, strengthen company data policies, and identify network inefficiency, among other things.

If this process is carried out effectively, it has the potential to significantly reduce the possibility of cyberattacks on an organization's wireless network infrastructure. Aside from security, a network security audit may also help you understand how your network is being utilized and eliminate resource wastage, if there is any.

Related Read: Hybrid WAN: Why your business needs it?

2. Limit user access privileges smartly

One of the most common causes of network intrusion is unauthorized users having unlimited or unnecessary system access. For this reason, limiting user access privileges is a critical part to create a secure network infrastructure. One way to accomplish this goal is by following the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP).

PoLP is a network infrastructure service that restricts users' access rights or grants them only the privileges required to perform the intended function. This principle is widely regarded as an important practice in IT organizations for improving data and network security.

By limiting access privileges, you– as an organization– will score multiple benefits in addition to securing your system, such as:

• Better system stability
• Minimized options for attacks
• Limited malware propagation
• Improved system security
• Ease of deployment

3. Patch all software in the network

Patch management is another crucial step to take in order to secure network infrastructure. It is the process of making changes to network software or supporting data to update, fix, or improve its reliability and stability. Security patches, also known as bug fixes, are designed to address security flaws in the system.

The three most common areas that require patching are:

• Operating Systems (OS)
• Applications/Software
• Embedded Systems

Regular and effective patch management practice can benefit your organization in multiple ways. It helps you protect your network from cyberattacks, improve user experience, and ensure compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR, among other things. Patch management can be done manually or automatically using patch management software.

Also Read: 3 essential steps for a successful network transformation

4. Review your cybersecurity tools

Keeping your tools up to date with the latest updates is a critical step to secure network infrastructure. Failure to upgrade your cybersecurity tools can result in potential loopholes or critical vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to gain access to your system.

Since hackers are constantly finding new ways to abuse your network, it is critical that your security tools are prepared to detect and mitigate these attacks in advance. You can either update the tools as soon as the update is released, or you can set a specific date each month or a day each week for updates. Above all, keep your cybersecurity tools up to date all the time to significantly reduce the possibility of cyber threats.

Conclusion

As we can see, securing the network is a critical task that every organization must work on. One of the best ways to secure network infrastructure is to partner with leading network infrastructure services providers such as Tata Communications. Their comprehensive network solutions will significantly assist you in mitigating cyberattack risk, increasing efficiency, protecting customer data, and more. Click here to learn more about Tata's network infrastructure management services.