A company’s network is the backbone of its IT infrastructure, depended upon for connection to customers, potential customers, vendors and employees, as well as public and private cloud infrastructure. Not only that, your network’s health is one of your best defenses against cyber threats. However, to stay healthy and in compliance with standards and regulations, you need to be proactive. Read on to find out how to keep your network in good health and compliance.

Marks of a Healthy Network

According to an article on network health, a company’s computer network is ideally flexible, efficient and secure. It links you to services essential for your business-critical applications to remain available and run smoothly. Offsite backup is also dependent upon the condition of your network. Just as important as working well, it needs to be secure, with no intrusions by malware, viruses, or unauthorized users. Your data needs to be protected whether or not your business is subject to industry regulations like HIPAA or PCI-DDS. Provided your network is already in good shape, network compliance will be easier as will avoiding fines for non-compliance.

How to Improve and Maintain the Health of Your Network

Both technological and human resources can work together to keep your network in tip-top shape. Your servers need to have up-to-date operating system patches (ideally automated) and current anti-virus and anti-malware definitions; these definitions need to extend to every device connected to your network. Make sure to monitor your network, looking for possible intrusions, weak spots, and any element possibly out of compliance. Consider an offsite network monitoring application that can work twenty-four hours a day. Another resource is your employees. Educate them regularly in such matters as password policy, recognition of phishing schemes, and maintaining data privacy.

Keeping your network healthy and secure is a huge step forward in establishing and maintaining compliance. According to Forbes, a company that can find and correct security problems via automation–and document these corrections–will not only avoid penalties and fines but operate more efficiently.

Don’t wait until an audit to be in compliance. If you are unsure about your network health and compliance, contact your trusted technology advisor today for an assessment.