7 Tips for Office LAN Security

 An average modern early-stage SaaS business with about 20 employees can operate with moderately lower security levels than a 500-employee business with multiple servers and IoT devices throughout the office. Companies operating on a larger scale are likely to have a security person in the organization (such as a security officer) who is well versed in network security.

Security of your office network

For midsize SaaS businesses, you can work with the following minimum Managed Lan Services guidelines:

1. Get a supportive router with a firewall enabled.

Change the default administrator credentials so that if your network is compromised, a hacker cannot make changes to it. Each time a vulnerability is discovered, a firmware update will be released. It is very important to install these updates. The easiest way to make sure you don't miss an update is to turn on the automatic update feature.

2. Use WPA2 encryption.

This is the type of encryption that protects the vast majority of Wi-Fi networks. WPA2 must have a strong password.

3. Create a "guest network".

You want it for people who visit your office but are not part of your company. Most modern routers have a guest network enable feature. This is an easy way to make your network more secure.

4. Ensure the physical security of your network equipment.

Physical security is a very important factor. Hardware should not be outdoors where anyone can access it. You want the equipment to be kept in a controlled room or closed office where a member of the organization can monitor it. An additional precaution would be to monitor the equipment with a security camera.

5. Buy higher quality routers.

You probably have basic routers, such as the ones your service provider installs, or cheap electronics store routers that come with a low-level firewall. However, an enterprise-grade router has more reliable firewalls. Some even have intrusion detection or protection systems built in, which pay off the extra cost. More powerful routers are likely to perform better on the network because these models can handle more devices.

6. Disable the "use ports" on the router.

There are often unused USB or Ethernet ports on the router. Disabling these ports will limit the chances of someone being able to connect the Rouge to the network. Since these ports are another starting point to worry about when it comes to LAN security, disable them whenever possible.

7. Add MAC address filtering.

MAC filtering is a security measure that allows only devices known to the organization to connect to the network. Filtering can be done by collecting the MAC address of each device and then loading those credentials into a database on the router. This may seem like an extra precaution, but it only guarantees that if a hacker can obtain the password from the network, he cannot gain access without one of the identified MAC addresses.