What Is Network Security?

The historical definition of network security is to use a firewall to screen users coming into the network, but as IT technology and security technology have evolved, the definition is much broader now.

Today, network security is everything a company does to ensure the security of its networks and everything connected to them. This includes the network, the cloud (or clouds), endpoints, servers, users and applications. Cybersecurity  products seek use preventive physical and software measures to protect the network and its assets from unauthorized access, modification, destruction and misuse. These products typically target certain assets on the network:

• Firewalls: prevent unauthorized users from accessing the network by allowing or denying traffic.
• Anti-Virus/Malware software: protects network endpoints and servers from becoming infected by damaging software that can corrupt files, export sensitive data, or perform other malicious activities.
• Application Security: systems look for and block vulnerability points in application software.
• Network Access Control: systems manage access permissions for authorized users and devices, preventing unauthorized users from gaining access.
• User Behavior Analytics: solutions monitor user activity, baseline normal behavior, and alert on activities that deviate from normal activity.
• Network Traffic Analysis: Network Detection and Response (NTA/NDR) products analyze network traffic, look for abnormal patterns that can indicate attacks, and take action based on the results. Network traffic does not lie and contains strategic data for threat detection.

• Cloud Security: solutions protect resources in the cloud.
• Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS): monitor for and block attacks from outside users or processes that get past the firewall.
• Security Information and Event Management: (SIEM) products collect data from various device logs on the network and can monitor for anomalies. Traffic-based NTA/NDR products complement SIEMs by analyzing logs and taking action. In fact, NTA/NDR is critical to advancing visibility beyond logs.

As you can see, there’s a lot to protect, and a lot of approaches to protecting it under the idea of network security. But rather than having a dozen or more point solutions (each with its own interface console) to manage, wouldn’t it be easier, faster and more efficient to have just one?

Stellar Cyber’s platform integrates security tools under one interface, including network security, referred to by Gartner as network detection and response (NDR). Bundling native application in a base platform eliminates the need to manually correlate threat information from multiple siloed solutions. In addition, Stellar Cyber’s platform can replace existing point solutions over time, reducing licensing and administrative costs. Finally, Stellar Cyber can respond to threats automatically by taking action on its own or in cooperation with other existing solutions such as firewalls, which means a much faster time to threat resolution.

Check out our product tour today and see how Stellar Cyber offers the industry’s most comprehensive solution for network security and everything connected to them.