How secure is your business data? If your company deals in medical data and needs to be compliant with HIPAA rules, or if your company maintains sensitive data on clients such as credit card numbers, financial information, or personal information, then you may need to regularly have a security audit performed. Many small and medium sized businesses face challenges on security audits if they do not have a full IT department, but that is where M&H Consulting comes in. Our IT experts can evaluate your system and networks to confirm that you are following best practices and all government regulations for security guidelines.
A network security audit is a means by which the ongoing level of performance of an organization’s network security can be monitored, and it allows for the investigation and pinpointing of chosen trends and specific security incidents. Various kinds of network security audit features exist in all modern computing platforms, such as security event logs and journals of database activity. Less commonly found are the audit tools that allow a level of merging or consolidation of information across different platforms. Here are some benefits to consider when it comes to security audits.
Medical Compliance
In today’s ever increasing compliance-awareness world, network security auditing is critical to maintaining good standing. Dental and medical practices especially need to be aware of security and compliance regulations so that client data is secure. A vulnerability in health privacy guidelines could be a huge issue for companies if they can not prove how they are securing patient data.
Identification of Network Vulnerabilities
Security audits help to identify vulnerabilities on your network devices and your network. These include:
- User Accounts – Have you lost or fired employees whose accounts should be closed so they no longer have access to company data?
- Unapproved Devices – Security audits can evaluate if there are any unknown devices such as smart phones or tablets, and Wireless Access Points must be detected during a security audit. Any of these devices can be used to attack the network.
- Passwords – Audits can evaluate your business’ password policy to ensure the passwords that are used on the network meet the policy in regards to password strength, change intervals, and other company requirements that you determine.
- Applications and Programs – An audit will identify the applications that are currently in use. If any dangerous applications are detected, they should be removed immediately.
Identifies Holes In Your Technology
Technology is always changing, and so should your internal and external IT best practices. This can be simple or complex, depending on the size of your company. For example, we may recommend upgrading your data storage system to a more advanced and more secure network for your essential, private documents.
Categorised in: IT Consulting Services, Security