Information security in the organization
Monitoring network behavior
Monitoring network behavior
Many organizations invest in physical security systems and monitoring of the people who walk around, and/or visitors, and/or workers, but monitoring users of digital assets isn’t expressed in an orderly and definitive manner in the organization. Is the physical threat more significant or valuable than the logical threat?
At Sinopia, logical monitoring is not only more significant than physical monitoring, it’s critical, and what’s even needed is targeted control of each and every user of the core infrastructure, whether they are an employee of the company, an external party, or a visitor.
The monitoring behavior approach in companies
This approach to network security not only helps to provide security solutions, but it also examines current and historical behavior, in order to paint a complete picture of corporate network security. Below, we will present the basics behind analyzing network behavior and detecting anomalies, and explain how the organization can leverage these techniques and tools in order to secure the network.
Analyzing network behavior
The network generates a lot of data that can be analyzed for insights into network performance. You can collect insights into packets of data, user activities, and resource usage—all of which can affect corporate network performance. In terms of security, network behavior data analysis examines how well the network security protocols and systems work.
By constantly observing the behavior of the network, the organization can rest assured that not only disasters related to security are prevented, but also a total shutdown of the network.
One of the ways in which network behavior analysis is beneficial is when it informs the network security tools of what the typical network experience looks like. This is an important step in preparing your organization for security issues that are liable to come up. If the network management team and security tools do not have an accurate picture of normal network behavior, it may be that an alert will not be received in the event of a security breach.
Not all security threats have major immediate effects; some threats are built to only slowly attack the network, and all devices that are connected to it, Analyzing network behavior, and setting a baseline for operating security, will help the security tool to detect security threats quickly and efficiently.
Discovering anomalies in network behavior
Network Behavior Anomalies Detection (NBAD) tools constantly scans the network for malicious threats. Instead of relying on perimeter security systems, endpoints, and firewalls (which can usually only find security threats that go through the network nodes, on which they are installed), NBAD systems scan the entire network for threats. When network behavior that seems unusual is detected – for example, excessive traffic at non-peak hours – the tool alerts the network management team and asks them to investigate it.
NBAD systems are generally more useful when combined with other security tools, such as firewalls and network performance monitoring (NPM) solutions. A NBAD tool requires network behavior analysis to work properly, but is a great resource for the network management teams to find hidden security threats that operate in enterprise infrastructure areas which traditional network security tools cannot reach.
In summary
There are different techniques, methods, and tools that the organization can use to monitor its network. Consolidating all solutions, in order to develop a comprehensive network monitoring strategy, enables you to analyze network performance from different angles. This includes network security, which reflects how security threats can affect network performance. One of the layers of network security is analyzing network behavior and detecting anomalies.
Network behavior refers to the activities of the organizational network, and to the users who operate it. In order to properly assess the security of their network, businesses must analyze their network behavior, and must track any anomalies that indicate a security threat to the network.