Computer network infrastructure is like the backbone for any business operation, now more than ever, setting up a secure and reliable network is critical to your success. By being secure, your inside-company network or inter-network ensures that your day-to-day operations are running smoothly and safely. Whether it’s a startup or a well-established enterprise, your growing business needs a reliable network; and no reliability without security.
Security is a rising global concern in this digital world. From bank transactions to chatting with friends and family, privacy matters, and should be taken seriously. Businesses also are no exception; security is essential for all.
We’ll discuss every aspect of setting a secure and reliable network in this article.
Why To Set up a Secure and Reliable Network?
Almost every business in today's world relies -in somehow- on technology to operate efficiently and make profits. Your online presence requires safety as much as your ground presence does. You usually have guards for your company, access control devices and security cameras. But have you ever thought to invest in protecting your online presence to operate safely?
Statistics about cyberattacks are really scary, and small businesses are the top target of these cyberattacks. They can easily disrupt your system, steal your sensitive data and even compromise your finances. They can even hold your important or sensitive data for a ransom, typically a big sum of money, causing your business operations to stop until it is paid.
On May 24th, 2018, VPNFilter malware has infected approximately 500,000 routers worldwide in perhaps 54 different countries. The malware is capable of collecting traffic sent through infected routers, such as website credentials. The FBI has stated that the size and scope of the infrastructure impacted by VPNFilter malware is significant.
You might think that you -as a small or midsize business- are safe, but this isn’t the case. SMBs are low-hanging fruit for cybercriminals, and that’s because many SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) lack the resources and expertise to implement a secure and reliable network.
How To Set up a Secure and Reliable Network?
While the topic of cyberattacks and network penetration can seem pretty daunting, there are some considerations while setting up your network that can help you protect your system and be prepared for any threat.
One key aspect to network security is the hardware you use, the devices you use to set up your network. Picking the right device for your network can protect you against network penetration threats. Of course, there are many options to choose from, and here is what you need to consider in each device you choose.
Devices
Routers
A router is the main piece, it’s the most important device in your network. If you’re choosing a router for your business, you have to look for some functionalities that promote reliability and security in the router you pick for your business; because not all routers have the same built-in features.
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Firewall
Whatever the router you choose for your business, this is a must-have feature in any router, make sure that the router has a built-in firewall functionality.
Firewall acts as a gatekeeper, the first line defense against malware and malicious data, it enables you to block unauthorized incoming traffic to your network. Firewall blocks any malicious and dangerous traffic through a predefined set of rules to control who you let in, and what traffic is allowed to enter your network by monitoring and analyzing network traffic. -
VPN
This is no less important than the previous one, VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. With thousands of employees working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a 3X increase in cyberattacks, and that’s because workers access company data and files through their home network.
VPN creates a private network for your employees where intruders can’t get in through access control, who gets access to what. VPN offers a safe route through the internet where your employees can send, receive and share files more safely.
Learn how to use VPN to connect your branches together.
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Load Balancing
This feature is more related to “Reliability” than “Security”. Load-balancing to balance traffic across two or more WAN links in order to spread out the amount of bandwidth used by each LAN user, thus increasing the total amount of bandwidth available. This feature promotes stability and thus reliability in your network.
DrayTek - a Taiwanese IoT manufacturer- has these functionalities built-in in their routers. Vigor Series has VPN built-in, supports up to 2 concurrent VPN tunnels. DrayTek routers also features Firewall and Content Filtering by URL keyword or web category to block access to insecure or inappropriate contents, along with some other features like bandwidth management to prevent a specific device from using all bandwidth through the bandwidth limit policy in the router settings.
DrayTek Vigor 2865 series includes: DrayTek Vigor 2865LAC, DrayTek Vigor2865AC and DrayTek Vigor 2865VAC.
Unlike other Firewall and VPN service providers, which require you to subscribe to a monthly or an annual quota. DrayTek has these neat features built-in in the product you purchase. Firewall service starts from $500 a year to $20k a year (in case of Sophos for Firewall services) while you can have the same performance and efficiency for less, and you only pay once.
DrayTek offers other routers with multiple built-in functionalities like VPN and Load balancing; DrayTek Vigor2915AC and DrayTek Vigor2962.
Access Points
To make Wi-Fi transmission more effective, check business-grade access points from DrayTek, with high-end band Steering, built-in RADIUS server, and AP-assisted roaming. DrayTek VigorAP includes: DrayTek VigorAP 810, DrayTek VigorAP 902, DrayTek VigorAP 903 and DrayTek VigorAP 912C.
Ruijie is also another player in the KSA market, models including: Reyee RG-RAP1200-(F), Reyee RG-RAP1200(P) , Reyee RG-RAP2260(G)
Switches
Connect any number of devices. Share information faster than the internet. Control access to various parts of the network. A network switch ensures that all devices are integrated and connected across the network, allowing for sharing and data transfer, all devices including PCs, printers, IP Phones, access points, and more.
A secure and a highly performant switch can help you quickly spot your network issues and handle them, so your operations can still run seamlessly
Learn about the most common network terminologies on this blog.
DrayTek offers a wide variety of switches to scale up your local area network. DrayTek Vigor Switches series includes: DrayTek VigorSwitch P1092, DrayTek Switch P1100, DrayTek VigorSwitch P2280x, DrayTek VigorSwitch G1280 and DrayTek VigorSwitch G1080.
Ruijie also offers a rich array of high-end switches: Ruijie RG-ES205GC-P, Ruijie RG-ES209GC-P, Ruijie RG-ES218GC-P
Configuration (The Second Piece of The Puzzle)
Maintenance and configurations are as important as the product you purchase, and you have two options; to hire your own in-house IT team, which is kinda costly to hire experts.
And the second option is to hire a company to do it for you. One of the greatest benefits of hiring a technical support company is the cost savings, and round-the-clock support, and you can scale up and down very easily.
Maintenance, upgrading and configurations aren’t set-and-forget. It’s an ongoing process to maintain your network, identify any weaknesses or gaps that might be a threat to your network security.
At Modn Telecom, we have certified and highly trained professional IT engineers to support you with all technical issues through Sanady Service. Get round-the-clock instant support, contact us for more information!
Top Target of Cyberattacks
In general, SMEs are top targets for cybercriminals. Most small businesses or startups don’t pay much attention to the importance of setting up a secure and reliable network. Small businesses are easy targets, and the fact they don’t invest in their security system is what makes hackers try to seal your data and information.
Healthcare is on top of industries that are at risk of cyberattacks. Healthcare sector is a very lucrative target for cyberattacks. A recent study indicated that medical data can be 10 times lucrative than credit card and bank information.
According to the Australian Cybersecurity Center, there has been a “significant increase in healthcare or COVID-19 themed malicious cyber activity, including targeting of the aged care and healthcare sectors by financially motivated cyber criminals using the ‘Maze’ ransomware.”
The second comes -no surprise- e-commerce and financial industry. Although there have been huge security restrictions and measures for banks and financial service providers, hackers can still interrupt your system and steal customers’ credentials. So, it’s not a luxury to set up a secure network and prevent any potential damage that might cost you your business.
Conclusion
Setting up a secure and reliable network for your business ensures that you have high levels of safety and full control over all your devices through controlling content according to applications, protocols, and ports. There are many elements you need to consider when setting up your network, devices and maintenance. At Modn Telecom, we deliver an integrated system to help your business operate safely and efficiently, delivered to you by our IT experts and professionals.