Differences Between Network Monitoring and Network Security Monitoring

If you have a website for your business, you are likely scared of it being hacked and infiltrated from outside sources. We have all heard stories of a hack tacking down a business and compromising the personal data of all the customers. This is a horrible act and one that sees consequences far and wide for a business. And it is a surefire way to lose the trust of the customer in the process. In the wake of all these incidents, it is more important than ever for businesses to take the proper steps to protect themselves from these cyber-attacks. One way to make sure you are taking the right steps is by hiring an IT team to implement a network monitoring and security monitoring solution.

Network monitoring allows you to keep track of all activity on your network. This way we can quickly identify and respond to any suspicious behavior. And security monitoring helps to detect and prevent malware and other threats from entering your network. By implementing both of these measures, you can help keep your business safe from cyber-attacks. Get the IT team at MSEDP to help today! We have years of experience working with companies across the United States and effectively prevent cyber-attacks with our managed services and 24/7 monitoring. Stay on top of the best and latest in the industry when you turn to the team at MSEDP.

In the meantime, let's take a look at the differences between network monitoring and network security monitoring and how these aspects apply to cybersecurity. Both of these aspects are important to the safety and security of any network and they work hand in hand with the IT services in full.

What is Network Monitoring?

Network monitoring is an IT process that monitors endpoints and servers within a network infrastructure in order to provide fault, performance and traffic insights. This monitoring also allows us, your tech team, to detect critical network issues, faults, and unavailability of network components, while being able to reduce the overall downtime. Having a network monitoring system in place also allows us to monitor the bandwidth utilization and reduce network congestion, which improves the overall performance of the network. It also allows for the remote availability monitoring of all assets and sends alert notifications to us for immediate attention. With our network monitoring tools, you get 24/7 monitoring for complete and total control of the network.

What is Network Security Monitoring?

Network security monitoring allows us to have insights and statistical data about the internal and external communications that originated or terminated within the network and implement security measures for protection of the network. In a nutshell, network security monitoring is the process that allows an IT team like us to effectively monitor the data flow and take all of the necessary steps in case of a discovered breach of security. Network security monitoring requires collecting, filtering, and analyzing logs from multiple data sources within the network. These data sources can include intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems, firewalls, and more. This differs from network monitoring as it focuses on the security aspects and implementation of protection, whereas simple monitoring tracks other data and aims to keep the network running smoothly.

The logs are sent to a centralized solution typically called a Security Information and Event Management solution where the logs are converted into events and analyzed by professionals. Those professionals in this case would be us and we can assure you that the IT staff at MSEDP can effectively deploy measures that will keep your website and network safe from infiltration. We do so by following the best practices for these solutions, which allows us to stay on top of the game and keep your network running at optimal conditions.

Why is Network Monitoring Important

Now that we know what network monitoring is, let's learn why it is important.

Less Network Downtime

Service downtime causes both financial and reputational loss for any digital business. When a business website faces downtime, it places a lot of stress on the IT team and they are under pressure to quickly resolve the issue and get the monitoring service back up and running. When network monitoring is properly in place, it allows us to quickly identify the root cause of the issues. Whether it is a misconfiguration, traffic congestion, an interface link being down, or malicious activity, our team can identify the problem and start troubleshooting it. All in all, network monitoring ensures the downtime is as short as possible.

Quickly Identifies Security Threats

Security monitoring is simply not possible without the correct network monitoring in place. In order to correctly identify security threats, we need to ensure that the network monitoring covers every asset that is part of the entire network. This way we can identify traditional network behavior and set up a baseline for network traffic and be better prepared to identify any anomalies.

Prevents Network Outages

There are various reasons a network outage can occur, such as configuration errors, increasing complexity of technology, malware, and more. In order to prevent these outages from happening often, the proper setting up of network monitoring is a must. Its implementation allows us to stay one step ahead of any potential network issues by monitoring network interfaces for traffic congestion.

More Focus on Critical Operations

Due to the configuration of network monitoring systems, which delivers immediate pre-built dashboards, tech teams no longer have to waste time by manually digging into performance data. Manually troubleshooting a network issue is a very time-consuming process. But since the network monitoring tools make looking into problems much simpler, tech teams can spend time and resources on other more critical projects that improve the overall process of monitoring and network infrastructure. Leaving the network monitoring programs to run on their own.

Help Manage and Scale to Bigger Networks

The number of connected devices to the internet is always increasing. If you are a growing business, then you likely know the need to connect multiple devices to your network. All these devices carry equal importance for a business and are equally important when it comes to safety on the network. And over the years, remote capabilities have become more common and the need to connect remotely has only grown. In order to ensure the availability of all of these devices, all of the components must be proactively monitored and our deployment of network monitoring services will protect everything and everyone connected to the network.

Why is Network Security Monitoring Important?

Hackers and malware are constantly improving and finding new ways to infiltrate networks. So it is crucial to stay ahead of the game however you can and with network security monitoring you can! Network security monitoring allows for 24/7 monitoring of your network systems and quick response times that lead to little downtime. Having a proper network security monitoring system in place is important because it is a way to cover all of the bases of your network and leave no corner unprotected.

Assume there is a hack and the anti-virus fails to catch the malicious behavior in time and the attacker gains access to the network and its devices. It happens. Nothing is 100% certain, but if it does then the hacker has full access to all parts of the network and can do with it how they please. They can even lie in wait as you reveal all of your private data and information, leading to even bigger cyber-attacks that result in even more damage.

However, if proper network security monitoring in place, then this hack can still occur, but out tech team will be quickly notified that they beat the firewalls in place and immediately take the steps that eliminate the access. So, if you store and process sensitive data, such as financial information and cardholder data, then you are likely required by law to be compliant with the regulations. At MSEDP, we can help you get compliant and deploy the proper network security monitoring tools to get you on your way and protect your networks from all potential threats.