How to Audit a Network Checklist

Use this template to quickly start creating your network security audit checklist. Easily personalize it to reflect your process steps and add notes for quicker generation of comprehensive paperless reports from any device instantly.

Documenting network infrastructure is vitally important to every business, but especially service providers and value-added resellers who aim to make troubleshooting customer networks much simpler.

1. Review Your Security Policy
An effective cyber attack can severely damage a company’s reputation and customer trust. By conducting a network security audit, it can identify gaps in policy suite and help organizations develop risk mitigation strategies.

New technologies are constantly being implemented into businesses to make them run more efficiently and effectively, so policies must be updated accordingly to take account of any new devices, policies or devices reaching end-of-life needing replacing, upgrades or optimization needed to improve performance or decrease security risks etc. A network audit can quickly identify such issues to avoid disruptions that arise when they go undetected for too long.

2. Review Your Network Map
Your network consists of many components, both hardware and software. A network map helps you examine each one individually to ensure its functionality and security measures remain up to date. For instance, it can help identify any employee devices acting as unauthori zable access points as well as ensure your “bring your own device” (BYOD) policy is being adhered to properly.

Your network map can also assist in the identification of performance bottlenecks and weaknesses that could be improved with changes to network architecture, as well as assess backups to determine if they have been regularly updated or any have been deployed with configurations that violate company security policies.

3. Review Your Hardware
An outdated or improperly configured network hardware can pose performance and security risks to an organization, necessitating regular audits to identify any weaknesses in both hardware and software systems. To effectively mitigate risks to both yourself and your network, audits should take place regularly to detect weaknesses that arise in hardware/software setups.

An audit of your network can also assist with preparations for migration or new service deployment, by highlighting compatibility issues which will reduce disruption and optimize performance.

Network security audits are similar to regular network performance audits in that both processes collect data about your network’s health and performance. A security audit takes one step further by gathering more detailed information about vulnerabilities such as password policies and BYOD policies; in contrast, performance audits collect information regarding speed responsiveness and efficiency.

4. Review Your Software
Cybercriminals often gain entry to networks through security gaps created by personal devices unwittingly connecting with the business network, outdated patches or poor password management practices. A network audit can identify these areas of weakness and suggest strategies for improvement.

Based on the findings of your network audit, recommendations might include updating software to close security gaps; reconfiguring networking devices to optimize performance or enhance security; and increasing documentation for easier network management and troubleshooting. Such steps are an invaluable way of making sure your company’s network operates seamlessly while mitigating risks from unexpected threats. DATAMYTE makes conducting these audits simpler with our integrated RMM platform for MSPs.

5. Review Your Backups
An effective network audit requires both static and activity-related data testing. Static tests typically concentrate on policies, systems and password rules while activity-related assessments focus on what users or devices are accessing and using from storage, transmission or use devices.

As with all data, it is vital to keep an eye on how it is protected, specifically which methods and technologies are being employed to archive, backup, restore or back-up these files. Furthermore, using centralized time management within your organization so timestamps can be verified is also highly advised.

At its core, no cyberdefense system is foolproof – but with careful vigilance and the support of trusted partners can significantly decrease the risks of damaging breaches. A comprehensive network audit checklist can help to ensure all bases are covered to minimize costly attacks from happening.