Network design can be an incredibly daunting task, especially if you’re tasked with creating it from scratch without the help of IT services in Orange County. By following our tips in this blog, you’ll develop a more resilient network that meets all of your requirements and allows you to feel at ease knowing that your data is protected against cyberattacks.
1. Use Security-Oriented Hardware
In order to create the most secure network possible, start by using security-oriented hardware. Security-oriented hardware includes switches and routers that have been built with security at the forefront of their design. A switch or router with security features will typically have intrusion detection or prevention as well as authentication and accounting features. These features help prevent unauthorized access to your network, limit what can be accessed once connected, and track who is accessing what on the network.
Routers also help protect networks by filtering traffic before it enters your private network and redirecting it away if there is an issue with the destination address. This helps limit potential problems caused by malicious hackers trying to get into your system through the Internet connection.
2. Select Network Protocols Carefully
Developers should select network protocols carefully to balance security and performance. If you’re developing a system that will connect to the Internet, HTTP is typically the best choice. However, if your system won’t be connecting to the internet, FTP or TFTP may be better choices as they don’t require IP addresses.
Developers should also carefully consider the authentication protocol chosen. The most secure option is SSH2, but it’s also one of the slowest options available. For maximum speed and security, developers might want to consider using TLS or SSL for authentication and AES with 128-bit keys for encryption.
3. Implement Strong Access Controls
One of the most important aspects of network security is to ensure that all access to the network is properly controlled. Using strong access controls will help reduce the likelihood of unauthorized access, and also provide protection against common threats such as phishing and social engineering.
To implement strong access controls, all user accounts should be set up with complex passwords; administrators should use different passwords than other users so that if one password is compromised it doesn’t automatically give an intruder administrative privileges on your system. Account privileges should be limited to only what’s needed to perform their job functions and these privileges should be regularly reviewed and adjusted as necessary. Administrative accounts in particular should be monitored closely for suspicious activity, since these are typically the ones with broad system-wide permissions.
Network security is a big issue, and can be difficult to understand. It’s important to take the time to research the risks your company faces and set up a plan of action now to help protect your network from attacks in the future. The first step to developing a secure network design is identifying what you need it for. Different networks require different levels of security depending on what they do. Once you know this, you can then think about which features are necessary and how they should be implemented. If you have any questions regarding secure network design, reach out to IT services in Orange County like CloudStep.