Is your IT infrastructure secure? Security is vital for protecting your data, systems, users, and customer information, so keeping it secure is an absolute must.
However, threats and challenges are always changing, so IT infrastructure security must constantly adapt to keep up with it. Organizations that fall behind risk letting hackers and other bad actors compromise their infrastructure and steal their data, which would be disastrous.
So, what IT infrastructure threats are out there, and how can Splashtop help you keep your infrastructure safe while enabling secure remote work? Let’s explore…
Understanding the Common Threats of IT Infrastructure
To enhance your IT infrastructure security, you should first understand the threats you’ll face. There are several threats that can put your IT infrastructure at risk, which is why cybersecurity and preparation are both so important.
Common threats include:
Cyberattacks: Cyberattacks are common threats, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and hacking. These can completely shut down a company’s IT infrastructure and put important data at risk of being lost or stolen.
Insider threats: Not all threats come from the outside. Insider threats are also a major concern, so internal security is important to ensure that unauthorized users can’t access key systems, projects, and data.
Malware and ransomware: Ransomware is an attack in which malware is installed on a company’s network to encrypt and withhold important data. The data is held hostage until the company pays a ransom for its restoration, and even then, there's no guarantee the attacker will be true to their word.
Vulnerabilities in outdated systems: Security systems frequently need new patches and updates to fix security weaknesses. Failing to keep security systems and devices updated can leave them vulnerable, giving hackers and other bad actors an easy weakness to exploit.
Phishing/social hacking: Phishing is one of the most widespread security threats. Rather than targeting a system or infrastructure, it targets employees, tricking them into revealing their login credentials, which the attackers can use to access the company’s systems and data.
Why Securing IT Infrastructure is Crucial
With all these threats in mind, the next question is: what could happen if an attack gets through? The consequences of poor IT infrastructure security include:
Data breaches where hackers gain access to proprietary, confidential, and personal data
Operational disruptions where systems are shut down and data is lost
Financial losses, which are measured not only in stolen funds but also in the costs of the damage done to your business and reputation
It’s vital to have robust security measures that can protect your business from these threats. A secure IT infrastructure is essential for ongoing business operations, safety, and customer trust. Without good security, on the other hand, you’re leaving your business vulnerable to innumerable threats and damages.
4 Levels of IT Infrastructure Security
A secure IT infrastructure is composed of multiple layers of security, each guarding against different threats. Together, they form a strong shield to defend IT infrastructure against internal and external threats. The four levels of IT infrastructure security are:
Physical Security: Protecting your network means protecting your devices; it’s important to invest in physical security, including office security, backup generators, and offsite backups.
Network Security: Keeping unauthorized users out of your network, including tools like firewalls, multi-factor authentication, and strong infrastructure security policies.
Software & Application Security: The process of protecting databases from attacks like SQL injections and unauthorized access; this includes patching and updating software to keep security features up to date.
Data Security: This involves securing data across your network, using processes such as restricting data access, encrypting data, and creating backups.
Best Practices for Securing IT Infrastructure
Fortunately, there are several tried and true security best practices. If you want to know how to secure IT infrastructure, following these steps will help:
Run regular security tests and audits to ensure your security is effective and nothing has slipped by you
Use firewalls and antivirus software to protect your network and devices
Keep your devices and security software up to date to ensure you have the latest patches and security features
Encrypt sensitive data to keep it safe from unauthorized users
Protect employee accounts with multi-factor authentication and strong password security
Ensure your web assets use secure protocols, such as SSL and SSH, to protect sensitive data and communication
Create offsite backups and redundancies that can be used to restore anything lost in case of an attack or natural disaster
Tools & Solutions for Enhancing IT Infrastructure Security
If you want to improve your IT infrastructure security, there are several tools that can help. Using these will provide multiple layers of security to keep your data and networks safe:
Security information and event management (SIEM) tools automate infrastructure security management, providing real-time analyses of alerts to make sure your network is safe.
Firewalls are essential for blocking malicious traffic and keeping unauthorized users out.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) provides an extra layer of protection from compromised accounts, requiring users to verify their identity before they can log in.
Data loss prevention (DLP) solutions can protect your data when it’s at rest, in motion, and in use, so all your sensitive information is kept safe and out of bad actors’ hands.
Benefits of Improved IT Infrastructure Security
It’s easy to say “security is important” without elaborating on its many benefits. After all, security is security, isn’t that a benefit in and of itself? But the value of improved IT infrastructure security doesn’t end there. Other benefits include:
Protecting customer data: Security isn’t just for you, it’s also for your customers. Protecting customer data helps build customer loyalty and confidence, as they know their information is safe in your hands. On the other hand, losing customer data due to poor security can be a legal and PR disaster.
Regulatory compliance: Many industries have strict security standards, such as HIPAA and FERPA. Ensuring you have strong IT infrastructure security will help you stay compliant with those standards, which is essential for any business.
Improving business continuity: It’s not a stretch to say that better business security leads to better business continuity. With a strong, secure IT infrastructure, you can reduce the damage caused by cyberattacks or human error, allowing work to continue uninterrupted.
Reduced downtime: Cyberattacks can take systems down for extended periods, and recovery can be an equally lengthy process. Having strong security that can prevent attacks helps keep your business up and running throughout the year.
Prevent financial losses: Poor cybersecurity can lead to both large fines and large losses. If a company is the victim of a cyber attack, that can create big losses across the board, including damages done, productivity lost, reputation damage, and recovery expenses, so strong infrastructure security is a necessary investment.
How to Build a Secure IT Infrastructure for Your Business?
It’s clear that IT infrastructure security is essential, but that leaves the question of how to secure IT infrastructure. Following these steps will help ensure you’re on the road to creating a secure infrastructure:
1. Conduct Risk Assessments
First, identify what threats you’ll need to look out for the most. While you can’t let any point of your security grow lax or complacent, it still helps to know what the greatest risks are so you can allocate your budget and resources accordingly.
2. Build a Security Roadmap
Once you’ve finished your risk assessment, you can begin creating a roadmap and setting security goals. This will guide your security decisions, including how to deal with security issues, setting timelines and expectations, and identifying best practices to follow.
3. Invest in the Right Tools
Security requires investing in tools and technology to keep your devices safe. This includes tools like firewalls, DLP solutions, and SIEM, as well as those more specific to your business needs. For instance, if your employees tend to work remotely, you’ll want to invest in a remote access solution with advanced security features, like Splashtop.
4. Regularly Train Your Staff
Technology can only do so much against human error. Your employees will also need to understand IT infrastructure security best practices, including how to identify and avoid phishing scams. It’s important to keep your staff trained and educated on the latest threats so they don’t fall for social engineering scams or accidentally compromise their accounts.
Strengthen IT Infrastructure Security with Splashtop AEM & SSW – Start Your Free Trial Today
If you want strong infrastructure security, you’ll need to invest in the right solutions, and one of the best investments you can make is with Splashtop.
Splashtop AEM (Autonomous Endpoint Management) empowers IT managers and teams to streamline operations, automate tasks, and keep endpoints secure from within a single console. This lets IT teams roll out patches and updates in real time, keeping systems at their most secure. Additionally, Splashtop AEM uses a single-pane dashboard to provide an overview of all endpoints so you can easily track assets and security health.
At the same time, Splashtop Secure Workspace (SSW) uses zero-trust security and default-deny policies to keep unknown users out. Only authorized users can access the workspace or network, and only in the areas to which they’re granted permission. Splashtop Secure Workspace also includes session recording and live monitoring, so you can keep an eye on remote sessions and spot any suspicious activity.
Splashtop provides secure remote access, empowering users to access their work computers from any device, anytime, anywhere, without compromising security. Splashtop’s advanced security features keep devices and accounts secure and are designed to meet industry and government regulations (including ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, and more).
With features like endpoint management, end-to-end encryption, and compliance enforcement, Splashtop helps organizations streamline their IT operations while keeping their infrastructure safe and secure.
Want to experience Splashtop for yourself? Get started today with a free trial:
