Can Businesses Benefit From Network Security Audits?

It is important that every business knows and identify all the possible risks that they may face during the course of their operations. Such actions are required to protect the company's assets such as its networks, computers and other sensitive data. Businesses should never wait until they are faced with disaster or a real threat to take appropriate security measures – often it would be too late to do so. Businesses who wish to get a clearer picture of all these possible risks should consult IT experts to conduct network security audits for them.

Read on to find out more on the common threats you may face as well as the benefits of scheduling regular network system audit checks.

What are the common threats that affect network systems?

Here a few of the common threats that network security audits can uncover:

• Forced access to customers' data: Their personal addresses and credit card information may fall into the wrong hands, if proper measures are not taken to prevent it.

• Poorly organized internal backup systems: Some businesses tend to get complacent when they think that it is fine to store their system backups in single non-discreet location. Hence, real trouble arises when the sole backup fails or gets stolen.

• Spam emails: These pesky mails may seem harmless at first, but sometimes it may contain malicious content and your staff must be educated to spot those that are potentially harmful.

There are more threats that your business may come into contact with and it is vital that you stay vigilant at all costs.

The cure: Network security audits

This form of audit is one of the most effective ways to ensure that your security crew's procedure and competency is at high standards. Still, why should you conduct such audits? You will understand better after knowing its benefits:

• Prevent redundant open ports: Open ports that are unused are likely targets of a cyber attack. The audits will efficiently identify such ports and close them as soon as possible to prevent the aforementioned attacks from ever happening.

• Identify anonymous users in your network: These anonymous users that do not appear in your records or have been created without your knowledge are tell-tale signs of successful breaches of security. It is necessary that businesses identify and close such unused or weird accounts before an attack is launched.

• Limit access to shared files and folders: Over the course of your operations, certain files or folder may be accidentally altered to grant access to unauthorized remote users. Hence, the audits will discover these discrepancies and correct the error.

Network security audits can definitely benefit a business in many ways and maintain high standards in its security procedures.

Caution: Not a one-time wonder!

Network security audits are not one-time processes and they should be implemented constantly due to the rapid changes in the IT world. Nowadays, these audit processes can be automated and it reduces the chance of human errors, thus benefiting both businesses and service providers. Hence, this is your go-to solution to detect security risks at the earliest opportunity!