Protecting Businesses in Central Ontario (Barrie, Orillia, Newmarket, Aurora & Innisfil)
Worried about your business network protection? ACT360’s IT Services understands how important it is for businesses in the region of Barrie, Orillia, Newmarket, Aurora and Innisfil to evaluate their security with a complete network security audit, in order to ensure their digital infrastructure stays strong and secure. Our certified IT experts will identify potential weaknesses and guide your efforts toward a more secure and reliable network, saving your company from problems and downtime caused by breaches.
Why Network Security Audits Are Necessary
“Most businesses believe they are safe until something breaks. A security audit reverses this thought: it lets you find vulnerabilities before they cause any damage, saving companies time, money, and stress.” Adam Bowles, Director, Web Services at ACT360
It should be the top priority for all businesses in Central Ontario. Without proper security, you risk potential unauthorized access, data misuse, or even theft. If there are vulnerabilities in your network, data breaches could happen. By conducting network security auditing, you can pinpoint these weaknesses in time to make the changes you need before they cause costly incidents for your firm.
What is Network Security Auditing?
Network security auditing is an audit that helps examine an IT infrastructure's entirety concerning IT controls, security, risk mitigation, and access policies and procedures.
A good audit is performed independently, and the IT professional conducting the audit should not only have a background in security and network management but also not be responsible for managing the networks/systems currently being audited.
An audit is capable of identifying a significant amount, including:
- Threats
- Weaknesses
- Compromises
Additionally, an audit will help determine if you're meeting the necessary regulatory requirements based on your business and industry details. Various regulatory bodies include the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure.
Benefits of Network Security Audits
Network security audits for your Barrie, Orillia, Newmarket, Aurora, or Innisfil business can be a huge benefit.
Key advantages include:
- Identifying vulnerabilities, whether through outdated software or weak security settings
- Finding inefficiencies, assisting with your upgrades of hardware or firmware
- Exposing rogue users/devices, before they cause an incident
- Optimizing security posture, so you can allocate resources where they matter most
That’s particularly important if you don’t know just how secure your current network is. It provides you with a clear path towards upgrade, and ensures your systems are in line with ACT360 IT Services' best practices.
Best Practices for Conducting Security Audits
Security auditing should be conducted at regular intervals, minimally once a year, or after major changes take place, such as hiring an IT manager, shifting infrastructure, adoption of new ethical hacking techniques… or in the aftermath of any data breach.
Here is how to approach audits, according to best practices:
- Use analytics tools to track performance and inventory devices
- Tag old hardware that needs to be replaced or upgraded
- Conduct vulnerability scans to catch weak spots early
- Apply security updates to all operating systems and applications
- Review procedures for secure passwords and phishing training of staff
Questions to Ask Your IT Team or CSP
Whether you host servers on-premises or in the cloud, you need to be aware of how your network is being secured. Ask your cloud service provider (CSP) or IT personnel:
- How often are audits performed?
- Who conducts the audits?
- What is our data retention/destruction policy?
- Is there an opportunity to see reports on audits?
- What kinds of problems are being highlighted in the audits?
You deserve to know, and you need to find out what your network security posture is.
At the end of the day, business owners throughout Central Ontario are accountable for protecting their data to comply with legislation. If you’re not sure and you don’t know what to do about it, have an ACT360 network security audit performed and get clarity on the situation, minimize risk, and enhance protection of your operations.
Secure Your Network. Secure Your Future.
Don’t wait until you have a breach to find out where your weaknesses are. Contact ACT360 to schedule your professional Network Security Audit, and our experts will ensure that your local Barrie, Orillia, Newmarket, Aurora, and Innisfil business is protected.
Call us at (705) 434-8324 or schedule a complimentary consultation today.
