What are the most common mistakes to avoid when implementing network security protocols in IT services?

I'd recommend threat modelling as the starting point. It is paramount to understand what may be the possible attack points and how to mitigate that. It's easy to implement network security by following industry standards and with the help of any standard solution but what matters is the holistic view and upfront assessment of risk/security. Security is paramount and so is threat modelling.

Some of the major principles we must adopt for network security - 1. Identify your Workload (PII/CII, Configurable, Fiduciary, Public etc.), Workflow (Enterprise Application, SaS, App), Workforce (Employee/Stakeholders), Workspace (Onprem, Remote, Cloud) and Web (Content, Websites) judiciously. Adhere to a digital ethics code and work on a zero trust principle. 2. Ensure that sensitive data remains private from anyone or anything not approved i.e. Data is kept encrypted in all three forms - Data at Rest, in Use and in Transit. Data at Rest is more lucrative than other two forms beacuse of its inherent features like logical structures, file systems, databases that tempts realise hackers the potential of such data once compromised.

I normally look at the risk surface via a threat lens. For example: ‘what am I trying to protect?’ If it was: ‘traffic traversing the Internet from being intercepted’ I would look at that specifically and create a risk surface, colored like a ‘heat map’. This allows for focus on the most critical parts of the risk surface, which in turn highlights where to prioritize remediation activities.

When implementing network security protocols in IT services, several common mistakes can compromise the system's integrity. Often, organizations neglect to keep their software and hardware updated, leaving them vulnerable to known vulnerabilities. Many fail to enforce strong password policies, making it easier for unauthorized users to gain access. Relying solely on perimeter defenses like firewalls, without focusing on internal threats, can be detrimental. Additionally, insufficient employee training can lead to accidental security breaches. Also not regularly auditing and assessing security measures can allow vulnerabilities to go unnoticed.

A risk assessment offers you a holistic view of your organization's digital landscape. It outlines potential vulnerabilities, enabling you to identify where your defenses may be weak. In a risk assessment, you gain the insight needed to prioritize your security efforts. It shows you which risk pose the greatest threat and which assets are most valuable. Allocating resources effectively is key. Risk assessment ensures your resources are used where they matter most. Proactive measures beat reactive ones. Risk assessment enables you to preemptively address vulnerabilities, reducing the likelihood of breaches. Compliance with security regulations is mandatory for many. A risk assessment often goes hand-in-hand with compliance requirements.

Establishing a baseline for your environment through systematic review is an important starting point to understand current state. Setting and communicating standards and policies is also critical to establishing a clear target state. Identifying the gaps between between your current and target state, and establishing a plan to systematically close those gaps is important; tracking closure is a critical part of the plan to ensure efforts are completed effectively. Lastly, systematic review of policies and configurations are key to ensure continued relevance and ongoing technical compliance, and regular communications to the user population are key to ensuring expectations are set and maintained as policies and standards change.

When configuring a network device, I love using checklists, it allows the person deploying to know that they performed each configuration step as required. No opportunity to forget to check a box. Secondly, I like to write scripts to test for proper configuration , which in turn helps identify configuration errors.

Configuring your network protocol poorly or inconsistently, using default settings, weak passwords, outdated software, or incompatible devices is a recipe for disaster. It exposes you to unauthorized access, malware, and data leaks. Your network's security is your shield against cyber threats—make it rock-solid! ??

I am a strong believer that adhering to best practices and industry standards for network security configuration is crucial. This includes configuring firewalls, routers, switches, and other network devices according to established security guidelines. I also think using automation tools and scripts to ensure consistent and secure configuration across the network is a great practice. Automation can help reduce human errors and enforce security policies effectively.

Agreed, we must be carefull when we are doing the protocol configuration. The impact is very high when it implement any kind of distributed application.

It's extremely important for training and awareness of network security to become part of the culture. Lack of training and awareness can indeed pose significant risks to an organization's security. Training and awareness play a vital role in maintaining a strong network security posture. Organizations should invest in ongoing education, clear policies, and regular monitoring to ensure that employees, clients, and partners are well-equipped to protect the network against a wide range of security threats. Neglecting this aspect of security can lead to preventable security incidents and breaches.

Also we should randomly imitate a phishing emails internally where by when employee obligates the phishing requirements he will receive a notification of phishing warning, I found that it is the most effective way to spread the awareness of phishing.

Without training, no one should do the configuration or make any change in the configuration. Sometimes not-trained people do random guessing and change the configuration. This will keep loophole in the security and lead to disaster.

Training alone will only go so far. Unlike machines people get tired and take short cuts. One moment of weakness can break an entire security system with disastrous consequences. Following strict security protocols 24/7 all year round is nearly impossible, hence we read that people forget top secret documents in bars, trains and public buses. Beside prevention, having a clear policy and protocols in place when a security breach happens - because it will - needs to be part of network security as well.

This is a complementary thing with the security. Proper backup needs to be maintained in a proper place with proper frequency as per the risk assessment (mentioned previously). Having backup provides the peace in mind.

A simple yet effective back up policy is “the three 4’s”: four weeks of dailies, four months of weeklies, and some you keep forever. Storage costs can get out of hand very quickly, but this holds it to a reasonable level.

The network security is so vast that it cannot be "100% done". Always we have to revisit the configuration and see if it is really filtering out things or blocking things as we expected. It is very common that we will find flaws and have to fix the configuration. Make sure to check and update the justification log (mentioned above) of the configuration while make changes.

In my experience, the really hard parts are: 1)getting executive commitment to keeping security up front and funded/included in all projects. Stress the damage attack potentials. Do several example scenarios with impact $$ displayed. Network downtime costs $$$ per hour , or per day, week. 2) not allowing labs, “special “ employees, “executives “, etc, to bypass network security entry points and firewalls. 3) even after training, lazy/sloppy administrators not keeping patches updated, not monitoring, not reporting incidents. Don’t fool around, fire them fast. 4) develop a risk assessment checklist and grade every system at least every year. ( known flaws fixed, patches updated, passwords changed regularly, etc)

One of the most overlooked item is user experience and support as part of the solution that should be considered. There has to be a tight design consideration how to properly convey to an end user that the error they encountered was part of the security design compared to the service is experiencing a fault. Clearly explaining why the attempt of the user to access for example a Web Url got denied and how the user can get the issue resolved by integration of the request to the organization's request management process. The other scenario would be when a user was attempting to access an organization approved Website and they get an error page that does provide the error code but doesnt offer any solution for the user to resolve the issue

Marcus Ranum gave the simple analogy of installing a home security system. Take advantage of the fact that you, as (IT) homeowner, know all your ins and outs, chokepoints, etc. Take advantage of that knowledge then set traps and defenses accordingly.

Some areas to consider: 1) Always start with your business goals to align your IT architecture & goals to fit. This should be number 1.This includes: - budget - maturity - resources - timeline - scope - team - experience - knowledge