5 Critical Areas to Address in Your Network Audit

Every business today relies on cutting-edge technology for its operations, from accounting to monitoring of inventory. With any part of your business, an audit can be a viable option to access your strengths, weaknesses, and compliance with the best practices of the industry. Network auditing, however, is specific to the technological aspects of your business.

Network auditing is a combination of the collective measures done to analyze, study, and gather data about a network with the purpose of determining if it is in accordance with the network/organization’s requirements, according to Techopedia. For your business, this process means checking your network for security, implementation of controls, availability, management, and performance.

The reality is that phishing and social engineering is the most common method which attackers use to compromise organizations, followed by malicious insiders and remote access.

If you have managed IT services, they are likely going to do a regular annual network audit with you to determine what your business might need going forward. If you are managing your IT in-house, then it is critical to have a network audit done by an IT company that specializes in them.

Here are 5 key areas to address in your network audit.

1. Backups/Restore Software

With many companies, the idea of business data backup is to save critical data in alternative storage options so that it can be restored in case of a disaster, loss of power, or other issues. For many companies, backups are either not running, not put in place, or misconfigured; therefore, the right data is not getting backed up.

It is extremely common that not all of the software required for a system recovery is in place after a disaster. An audit can help you to determine what pieces are missing and how to correct them by recommending appropriate data backup services.

2. Network Security

Many networks do not have the right security to protect their data from hackers or malware, making their data vulnerable. A network audit or assessment can help you to determine the vulnerabilities of your system and how to address them.

Our free network assessment can assist in finding and eliminating security issues before they become a bigger issue.

3. Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware

While most companies have purchased this software, in many instances an audit shows that the software is out of date or not even loaded properly, essentially making it useless in protecting your company and its data from viruses and malware.

4. Monitoring the Health of Your System

If no one is actively looking for potential and current problems or issues, then it is likely that they will go undetected until it becomes a huge issue that negatively impacts your business. A network audit, on the other hand, can show where serious hardware or configuration issues exist, then assist you to format a plan to address them.

5. No Documentation of Critical Information

More than 85% of our audits yield no usable documentation regarding network configuration, administrative accounts, or passwords. It means that no one knows who did what and when they did it, making it difficult for any managed IT services to come in and work on the system.

To find the right cutting-edge technology for your company and to meet your needs, it is important to understand what is working well in your system and what is not. Using a network audit, you can find the vulnerabilities and address them. Most companies recommend that a network audit is performed at least once a year as part of an overall plan for your IT services.

If your company is due for a network audit, contact us for a free assessment, along with recommendations on how to effectively address your IT needs.

Sagacent Technologies offers technology management and support, including proactive/preventative maintenance, onsite and offsite data back-ups, network and security audits, mobility solutions, disaster planning and emergency business resumption services. The company serves clients of 10 to 150 employees within the Silicon Valley region.