Welcome to the First Column IT Tech Blog

HomeBlog
How to Approach Network Security Like a Pro

How to Approach Network Security Like a Pro

February 12, 2024

Network security is an incredibly nuanced topic with a lot of specifics that must be addressed. Still, today, we want to give you some actionable items that you can use to take an active role in improving network security for your business. Let’s dig into some of the essential dos and don’ts of network security for small businesses.

Network Security Dos

Invest in a Robust Firewall and Antivirus Solution

Perhaps the most obvious security “do” is to implement preventative security solutions that keep threats out of your network while also allowing you to detect those that do make it through. A firewall can actively protect your network endpoints, while antivirus can detect and eliminate potential threats.

Update Systems and Software

Security threats constantly adapt and evolve to exploit recently discovered vulnerabilities. It’s your job to make sure these vulnerabilities get patched in a timely manner before threats can take advantage of them.

Implement Strong Access Controls

You can prevent a lot of security issues simply by controlling who can and cannot access specific types of data. You can limit data access based on the user’s role while also implementing multi-factor authentication. The latter asks for multiple authentication measures, like a smartphone passcode or biometric credential, ensuring that the password is not the only thing securing your business.

Network Security Don’ts

Ignore Employee Training

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a small business is failing to train your employees on how to practice basic security standards in the workplace. Phishing is on the rise, and with social engineering tactics becoming more and more nuanced, you need to train your team on how to identify them. It also helps to adopt a password security policy, too!

Rely on Network Security Alone

While you can theoretically prevent most hacks just by being proactive with your protections, you should not rely on your security solutions alone to save you. It helps to also have data backup systems in place just in case something truly devastating happens, and you need to perform a system restore. This is a best practice in general, as backups will save you from all kinds of other disasters, like weather phenomena and hardware failures.

Sweep Issues Under the Rug

If your employees accidentally allow a security threat to make its way into your system, you want them to feel comfortable coming forward to report the incident. While monitoring tools can, in most cases, help you identify the threat, you need your team to be willing to own up to mistakes without fear of punishment. Sweeping issues under the rug is a surefire way for them to worsen over time, so address them as early as possible.

Get Started with Network Security Solutions Today

We know your business has better and more lucrative things to worry about than network security, so why not outsource all of that responsibility to First Column IT? We can implement the best solutions on the market, train your employees on best practices, and continuously monitor for potential issues. All you have to do to get started today is call us at (571) 470-5594.

Previous Post
April 28, 2025
Learn How Resilience is Reshaping the Cybersecurity Landscape
While the goal of cybersecurity is always to prevent threats from taking advantage of your infrastructure, this is becoming more and more challenging as time wears on and threats evolve to changes in cybersecurity discourse. A recent podcast episode from Illumio, “Trust & Resilience: The New Frontlines of Cybersecurity,” explores how trust has become a vulnerability that attackers exploit in new and creative ways. How can cybersecurity as an industry pivot in response to this trend?
April 25, 2025
Everything You Need to Know About Business Tech Updates
While technology is an important part of your business, it shouldn’t be distracting you from carrying out your company’s mission. Indeed, it can be difficult to stay up-to-date on the latest practices and solutions, and it can feel impossible to keep up. While you could adopt the “good enough” policy that many businesses settle for, we think you should take a different approach—one that will make you impossible to compete with if carried out appropriately.
April 23, 2025
Boost Your Business’ AI, Cloud, and Security
Are you constantly looking to improve your small business and stay ahead of the game? Let’s talk about some tech that can seriously boost how you operate: artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and cybersecurity.

Have a project in mind?

Start with our free consultation for VA, DC and MD companies. We will provide a detailed proposal and firm quote based on your specific IT support needs. All at a predictable monthly cost per seat.
Free Consultation - Sign Up Here