What do you do if your sensitive data is at risk and you need to enhance network security?

If you think your data may be at risk, Consult with a professional service provider first. 1. They follow a standard / defined process 2. They stay on top of pertinent risks 3. they generally will have contacts within certain 3 letter Gov. organizations and receive notifications 4. They will have multiple certifications and training specific to the assessment process. Companies need to start there, and if the company knows of a certain application or data set is at risk, then the assessment will likely find additional areas where risk is prevalent. We have seen clients who are concerned about an application, where we find multiple risk just as critical across several vector of risks within a client. We have sometimes found minimal risk.

Classify the data into what can be shared in Public, what is internal and what is confidential that only certain people within the organization should have access to. Next assess your IT Infrastructure to identify potential vulnerabilities by conducting an audit. Once the assessment report is available, chose data security policies to be applied on your Infrastructure, processes, and data enforce a comprehensive data security that suits your organization. Next on, conduct drills and audits at regular intervals and apply policies as per the findings so that your security keeps evolving with emerging threats.

If sensitive data is at risk, enhancing network security becomes paramount. Firstly, I will identify the specific vulnerabilities or threats putting the data at risk through thorough risk assessments and security audits. Then, I will implement appropriate security measures such as encryption, access controls, intrusion detection systems, and regular security patching to mitigate the risk. Additionally, I will conduct employee training to raise awareness about security best practices and ensure all staff members are vigilant in safeguarding sensitive data. Regular monitoring and updates to security protocols are essential to maintain the integrity of network defenses.

First categorize the data that your organization Handles. Next, identify the impact of each data and data think in Attacker's Perspective as what is impact of data if data is leaked. Now, if that is also done, now identify what are all data is leaked in Internet, and check whether it is production data or not and check impact of data, because if data is leaked even there is no impact to organization there is no need to made much budget plan for remediation. Next, identify at which entry point the data is leaked. Make sure to configure the entry point to be very secured with secured protocols, Like if we use Web Application always implement TLS1.3 or newer with Strong Certificate HTTPS. Regular Assessment will mitigate the Risk of data.

The key is to invest in the proper protection for the data. Invest wisely - in a way that delivers measurable returns in the form of risk reduction. Invest in those areas that make sense (good investments), no need to invest in areas that don't make sense (poor investments). If it doesn't make sense to invest, it may be a wise decision to accept the risk, to transfer the risk via insurance, or perhaps deciding to avoid the risk altogether by no longer using the data.

Review and update your organization's security policies and procedures Insure that cata protection policies align with industry standards and legal requirements Cummunicat policy changes to employees and stakeholders

Conduct research to identify likely dangers. If your company has not certified security officer, hire a third party company that specializes in this area. Audit the corporate access policy. Update it by the modern demands. For today: SSO, MFA. RBAC in public clouds. Other technologies specific to individual public clouds: STS, Resource-Based Policies, Permission Boundaries for AWS Azure Policy Service Accounts for GPC. Audit secret management systems. This includes both corporate items, like TLS certificates, and password storing by employees. Instruct employees about password storing policy. Minimize access between parts of networks to the necessary. Implement modern monitoring tools. Be selective in this process: do not create noise.

To review and update network security policies, start by conducting a comprehensive assessment of current practices and identifying any gaps or outdated measures. Incorporate the latest security practices and industry standards into policies covering acceptable use, access control, incident response, and other critical areas. Ensure clear communication of policies to all users and enforce adherence rigorously. Implement regular training and awareness programs to educate users about their role in maintaining network security. Regularly review and update policies to stay aligned with evolving threats and best practices.

While updating policies is essential, consider adopting a proactive approach by involving stakeholders in policy development. Create a culture of collaboration where employees are not just recipients of policies but active contributors to their refinement based on real-world experiences and emerging threats.

In my experience, an IS policy update which is often overarching the network security policy must be the final output after seeking continuous inputs from the following but not limited to: 1. Periodic audits of the controls effectiveness 2. Stakeholder (various business units) collaboration to gain insights into evolving risks 3. Implement continuous control monitoring and feedback loop mechanisms 4. Threat intelligence integration Lastly, the policy updates must be agile because there is continuous threat exposure to the org moreover the threats evolve rapidly.

If you find that your important data in risk then enhance security should be priority. Ensure your all communications using secure protocol like HTTPS VPN If you find that your sensitive data is at risk, enhancing security should be a priority. Here are steps you can take: Limit access to sensitive data based on the principle of least privilege. Only authorized users should have access. Keep your software, systems, and devices up to date with security patches and updates to mitigate vulnerabilities. Regularly backup your data and ensure backups are secure and accessible only to authorized personnel. Continuously monitor systems and data access for any suspicious activities. Conduct regular security audits and assessments.

If you see a threat or potential threat, you must address it ASAP to ensure that the data is safe. Doing nothing could be costly.

Review and update access control policies to enforce the principle of least privilege. Grant users only the minimum access level required for their tasks. Password Policies: Enforce strong password policies with complex character requirements, regular password changes, and password managers. Acceptable Use Policies: Update acceptable use policies to explicitly prohibit actions that could compromise network security, like downloading unauthorized software or visiting malicious websites. Incident Response Policies: Ensure you have clear and up-to-date incident response policies in place. These policies should outline steps to take in case of a security breach, including data recovery, user notification, and legal reporting.

Implenting strong access controls like MFA and restricting access to the least privilege principle, coupled with user training on securing the network would be an effecient way of significantly reducing risk. Deployment of vendor centric and third party platforms to detect unusual activity is also advisable. Automating tasks like restricting S3 buckets and security groups will also do wonders to regain control over the security of your data.

Consider air-gapping your sensitive data to an intranet. Secure all access from the DMZ to the internal boundary. Consider utilizing or reviewing your IPsec to reduce the gateway attack surface

Deploy intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) to monitor network traffic. Set up security information and event management (SIEM) tools to detect anomalies. Monitor for signs of data exfiltration

One of the first steps in enhancing networking security is to start with the firewall to check inbound traffic and rules, hardening it. Check the following things: 1. Are my rules are strict enough? 2. Does my firewall supports deep pack inspection ? If it does, are the rules limited per protocol and application also? For example , you can try to do an RDP with port 4444, since I opened a rule that allows RDP to only work on 3389, so the rule isn't just opening the port itself, but also inspect the application insides of it. As seen in NGFW of Palo Alto and more. 3. Afterwards, an IPS Solution should be installed. After we strict stuff from the network layer from the firewall can go to other stages such as: WAF DLP Solution

Implement continuous monitoring of the network using intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) to detect and respond to threats in real-time. Regularly review logs for unusual activity that could indicate a compromise. Effective monitoring allows for swift remediation of issues before they escalate into serious breaches. Additionally, consider implementing automated alerts and response mechanisms to further enhance your ability to react quickly to potential threats.

Set up monitoring systems to continuously monitor network activity for any signs of suspicious behavior or unauthorised access. Implement intrusion detection and prevention systems to quickly detect and respond to security threats.

É crucial não apenas realizar backups regularmente, mas também testar meticulosamente o processo de restauração completo. Além disso, é essencial garantir que os backups estejam isolados, eliminando qualquer possibilidade de acesso por invasores. Manter imagens atualizadas do servidor para um rápido restauro é fundamental para assegurar uma recuperação ágil dos serviços operacionais

Data Backup : Ensures Safe,quick and effective recovery of data during cyber attacks like ransomware, accidental deletion due to human error, data exfiltration,system outage, hardware failure etc. Robust backup : one of the crucial part of IR Plan. In the incident response lifecycle, the containment eradication and recovery phase focuses on getting your systems and data back to a normal operational state after a security incident. There are different types of backups: full, incremental and differential backups depends on your specific needs. Data backup Security :To protect or secure backup data from deletion or backup failure we can implement security measures such as storing backups offsite or using encryption.

Implement regular data backups to ensure that sensitive data can be quickly recovered in the event of a security breach or data loss incident. Store backups in secure off-site locations to protect against physical threats such as theft or natural disasters.

Regularly back up sensitive data to secure locations. Use encryption for data at rest and during transmission. Test data restoration processes to ensure backups are reliable

On average, your data should be backed up at certain hours every day. Encrypt backup files In general, encrypt the input and output data Access to encrypted files should be limited in the online environment, and access should be open and classified only in the offline environment.

Keeping all systems and software up to date with the latest security patches and updates is crucial for mitigating known vulnerabilities. Implement automated patch management systems to streamline the process and ensure timely application of patches. By staying current with updates, you significantly reduce the risk of exploitation by hackers targeting known vulnerabilities. Regularly scheduled patching routines can help maintain the security posture of your network infrastructure.

Keep software, operating systems, and network devices up to date. Patch known vulnerabilities promptly. Regularly review and update security configurations

Keep all software, operating systems, and security patches up to date to mitigate known vulnerabilities. Regularly update firmware and security software to ensure that your network infrastructure is protected against the latest threats.

Systems updates are of vital importance to avoid internal or external exploits, specially operating systems updates that can protect those systems from an attack exploiting vulnerabilities. It is also equally important to implement hardening on those operating systems so that most vulnerabilities are covered, these kind of implementations and safeguards are often disregarded and the price of that carelessness can be quite high if your critical data is stored on a vulnerable host.

I am with the UK CE on this, you must patch high and critical vulnerabilities very quickly. for CE it is mandatory to do it within 14 days, long go the days that you could wait. Some hosts are a bit more difficult and something going wrong may impact the business badly but vendors are getting better than used to be as well as the malicious actors. Speed the process and give it resources if you are not there yet.