What are the Major Network Security Standards?
Cyberattacks are increasing, and hackers are always looking for any vulnerabilities in your systems so they can steal your personal information and misuse it. Or they are even ready to put malicious viruses in your system so they can blackmail you after with money. An example of this is common in the form of ransomware. Once you start using the internet, there is no way that your data is safe; there are numerous cyberattacks online that can harm your online presence. Here are the network security standards that are the rules for protecting your data online. These standards are created by different organizations by internet security experts who are always working to set the best security rules for improved internet security. In this blog, we will see different network security standards, including ISO/IEC, NIST, HIPAA, CIS, and more.
What is network security?
Network security protects your computer from cyberattacks. With network security, all sorts of data are secured on the internet, financial data, or your employee’s data. Also protects you on your network. Network security follows CIA triads, which include Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Confidentiality is that data is transferred to the authorized person only. Integrity is that data that is sent or received must be complete and unmodified. Whereas availability is your network is available anytime when authorized users need to access the network.
What are network security standards?
Network security standards are guidelines that are a must to follow for your data security on the internet. These are the steps that are mandatory for organizations to follow; anyone using internet services must be aware of these standards to know to what extent your online data is protected.
What is the importance of network security standards?
Network security standards lessen the chances of cyberattacks if they are properly followed. These standards ensure that you are using the right tools and executing the right practices to safeguard data. Here is the importance listed for network security standards.
Prevent Data Breaches
Data breaches can harm companies’ reputations and raise questions about the security measures they are taking to keep their data safe and secure. It can lead the company to financial losses. It’s crucial to make your network secure by using the latest software and other security tools, including firewalls and strong encryption methods. Using the right VPN service also protects you from online threats, like iProVPN, to prevent data breaches.
Enhance Network Performance
To make your network perform well and secure, you must improve the parts of the network, including software and hardware devices, and also the network protocols. Following this can enhance the efficiency of your network with its performance.
Secure from cyberattacks
Network security standards protect you from malicious viruses, dangerous malware, and ransomware. It protects you from hacking and has clear security rules for it. Additionally, the rules comprise strong passwords, encryption, and antivirus programs to keep software updated.
Legal Security Compliance
All big companies have strict rules that are mandatory to follow. Especially healthcare sectors, banks, and other government institutes, as well as IT companies, have very rigid rules for the protection of data, as they have big data stored, reacted to the public, and that data’s security can’t be compromised. Every organization and country has different rules; some are extremely strict, and some follow according to their needs.
Financial and legal penalties
Whether the business is small or large, following network security is important; it can save you from legal penalties and huge fines. If a company breaks GDPR rules, then you may face lawsuits and fines up to €20 million or 4% of the company’s annual revenue. If you fail to protect the customer’s data, then the customer has the full right to take legal action. Government and regulatory agencies can restrict your business.
Loss of trust and damaged reputation
If a company fails to follow network security standards and has privacy risks, then no one will trust that specific organization. Moreover, customers will give bad reviews about it, and eventually, that organization’s reputation will be highly damaged.
Significant Principles of Network Security Standards
Some of them are the primary principles that make network security standards:
Authorization
It makes sure that verified users and devices will access the network only. You can protect your network by putting strong passwords with different combinations of numbers, characters, and letters. To add extra protection, you can add biometric verification or 2-factor authentication to protect your network from unverified users.
Encrypted Data Transmission
Encryption converts your data into scrambled secret code; this data is only decrypted at the receiver’s end by the correct key. Without a decryption key, no one can intercept your data on the internet. Make sure to confirm the terms and conditions when you are satisfied with the specific apps or service’s encryption policies.
Virtual Private Network
VPN keeps your data secure over the VPN tunnel; it makes your internet traffic secure and protects you from cyberattacks and malicious viruses. However, there are several free VPN services that VPN users use. These services are not safe at all; they keep and sell users’ data to hackers for some money. Always use a reliable VPN like iProVPN, which has a strict no-log policy and also uses a strong encryption method of AES-256 bit.
Firewall Protection
A firewall uses predefined rules through which anything you access online passes. Firewall inspects whether the online content or website you access follows the security rules or not. If they follow the firewall, it allows access to the specific site or content; otherwise, it blocks the access at your end. It protects you before data reaches your network.
Intrusion Detection and Protection Systems (IDPS)
IDPS inspects online traffic; if there is anything suspicious in the network, it alerts the cybersecurity team’s IDS (Intrusion Detection Security) or it blocks the suspicious activities automatically with IPS (Intrusion Prevention System). IDPS prevents unauthorized access to your network and hackers from spreading malware.
Network Security Standards
Following are the frameworks of network security; they define the best practices for the organizations to maintain security over the network.
ISO/IEC 27033
ISO/IEC 27033 consists of six major security rules that are crucial to follow to keep your network secure. These standards cover several different security components, including network security, web apps, and mobile application security, and for the users, how they can protect themselves from cyber threats.
To understand it clearly, here is one of the examples from the six standards of ISO/IEC 27033, which is ISO/IEC 27033-6, the last and most important rule, which provides the policies for risks and architectural techniques of wireless networks. It helps organizations from the design of the network to its security. This standard covers several wireless network types, including WPAN and WLAN.
IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi standards):
IEEE stands for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. IEEE 802.11 provides the guidelines for wireless networks. These are the group of sets that ensure that devices communicate efficiently, also the speed of data transmission. These standards keep evolving with time; however, this standard has the feature of WPA3, which prevents hackers from stealing your information from your wireless network.
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)
PCI DSS compliance is confirmed worldwide. The PCI DSS is a set of rules for online and offline transactions for everyone who is a credit or debit card holder or making their transactions online or in person. These rules are followed by the businesses that are managing online payments. PCI DSS focuses on data protection, security testing, access control, and security policies. It is an important business requirement that must be followed to protect online payments.
General Data Protection Regulation
GDPR law is for people living in Europe; it provides guidelines about the security of personal information. This law can also help people living outside Europe for data protection. It is one of the strictest laws that gives authority to users to know how their data is used. Moreover, if the user notices any misuse of personal data, they can file a lawsuit against the company, which leads the company to pay huge fines. Additionally, regulatory authorities can ban the company.
NIS SP 800-171
NIS SP 800-171 are rules that a US government agency has made, i.e., NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). The standards made are only for the private organizations that handle personal data. NIST SP 800-171 rules define how organizations can keep their data protected from hackers and online threats.
Conclusion
Network security protects you from cyberattacks and hackers who are ready to get your personal information and misuse it. If your organization has a good security system, then it helps customers to build trust, and there won’t be any harm to the organization’s reputation. It’s important to know the network security standards and importance so you are safe over the internet. There are several standards like ISO/IEC, GDPR, IEEE, NIST, and more that provide the best security guidelines that secure your network. By using recommended methods of VPN, encryption, and firewalls. You can use iProVPN to secure your network from malicious viruses and malware.
To know that an organization is abiding by the network security standards, you can ask for the certificates or check for the security tools they are using. Additionally, their policies regarding online security.
