How to Perform a Network Security Assessment In 10 Steps

The Purpose of a Network Security Assessment

The purpose of a network security assessment is to better understand your current network infrastructure and how it could be exploited by attackers. By evaluating the effectiveness of existing security measures, you can assess the risk and potential impact of cyber-attacks, then determine the likelihood of successful breaches.

The goal is to uncover vulnerabilities and security gaps to identify areas where safeguards could be strengthened, reducing the risk of cyberattacks moving forward. With ongoing network assessments, this process repeats itself to maintain strong defenses against emerging threats.

A network security assessment provides critical information such as the systems most at risk, common entry points for attacks, the potential impact of different systems being compromised, and how best to respond to various threats. By mapping all of your network assets, including shadow IT, you can prioritize risks and implement effective remediation strategies. Additionally, through compliance security assessment, you can ensure your operations adhere to relevant regulatory requirements.

10 Steps for Performing a Network Security Assessment

#1. Define the Scope and Objectives of Your Assessment

The first step of a network security assessment is establishing the scope and objectives you want to achieve. This includes the systems, applications, and network segments that will be included in the evaluation, what you want to find out about them, and how this will improve your security posture. Your objectives should be directly connected to business risks and compliance needs.

This stage sets the foundation for the rest of your assessment. By clearly defining your scope and objectives, your network security assessment will be more focused and actionable, leading to a more meaningful reduction in cyber risk.

#2. Map Your Network

The next step is to take a complete inventory of your network assets. You can’t audit or develop protections for assets you don’t know exist. With a full picture of your network, nothing slips through the cracks during the evaluation. Even a single undocumented system can open the door to exploitation.

Steps to mapping your network and building an asset inventory include:

• Catalog All Devices: Include everything from servers, routers, and switches to firewalls, IoT, wireless APs, laptops, and remote worker endpoints.
• Identify Business-Critical Systems: Not every system carries the same level of risk. Prioritize systems that handle sensitive information or mission-critical operations.
• Note Software and Configurations: Record operating systems, firmware versions, installed applications, and patching status as part of your network configuration review.
• Review Network Security Controls: Evaluate your existing security technology and tools, such as firewalls, IDS/IPS, VPNs, authentication methods, and encryption protocols.
• Check Response Plans: Confirm backup procedures, disaster recovery plans, and other response policies are in place and regularly tested.

Finally, keep records of asset maps, security configurations, remediation strategies, and audit timelines. This not only supports ongoing network assessments but also strengthens compliance reporting.

#3. Choose the Right Assessment Methodology

Choosing the correct methodology for your organization is a critical step in any network security assessment. Not every organization needs the same level of testing, and limited budgets make it essential to prioritize the assets and data that matter most. The goal is to align your network assessment methodology with business needs to maximize security impact while minimizing unnecessary costs.

The methodology you choose should directly reflect the objectives defined in step 1. In many cases, organizations will combine multiple approaches to balance detection, prevention, and compliance needs. For example, a network configuration review may be followed by penetration testing for high-value systems, while a compliance audit ensures regulatory obligations are met.

#4. Find Security Gaps with Vulnerability Scanning

Once assets are mapped and you have chosen your assessment strategy, the next phase is scanning for vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. Vulnerability scanning provides visibility into outdated software, weak configurations, and open ports across your IT infrastructure. A robust vulnerability assessment ensures these gaps are discovered before attackers can exploit them.

This requires automated security assessment tools with extensive coverage for different infrastructure and endpoints. Beyond technical vulnerabilities, your assessment should also extend to internal weaknesses such as employee security habits and access permissions.

Given limited time and resources, you can’t give equal weight to every potential weakness across your network. Focus on remediating vulnerabilities that affect your most sensitive systems and datasets.

#5. Use Penetration Tests to Simulate Real Attacks

After identifying vulnerabilities, the next step in a network security assessment is to test whether your defenses can withstand real-world attacks using penetration testing. Unlike automated scans, penetration tests simulate how a real attacker would exploit weaknesses. This process validates whether misconfigurations, weak passwords, or poor segmentation could allow unauthorized access. It ensures your risk mitigation strategies work in the real world and are more than just theoretical.

When structuring a penetration test:

• Plan the Attack: Focus on high-value assets highlighted in your vulnerability assessment. Define clear objectives, such as exfiltrating sensitive data or maintaining persistence undetected.
• Leverage Different Testing Models: For example, black box testing (simulates an external attacker with no prior knowledge), gray box testing (represents an insider with limited access), and white box testing (evaluates defenses with full system knowledge).
• Simulate Real Threats: Use ethical hacking tools to mimic adversary tactics, including exploiting public apps, phishing, or targeting third-party tools.

Penetration testing is a crucial part of any ongoing network assessment, providing insight into whether your defenses hold up under pressure.

#6. Review Policies and Compliance Standards

A network security assessment must evaluate whether existing security policies and compliance requirements are being met. A compliance security assessment helps ensure your organization avoids legal penalties, reputational damage, and costly breaches. To simplify this process, you can utilize industry frameworks to establish baselines for protecting sensitive data.

Key areas to review include:

• Policy Alignment: Confirm that existing security policies match industry standards and regulatory obligations.
• Access Control: Verify that the principle of least privilege is applied consistently across accounts, applications, and systems.
• Monitoring and Logging: Ensure logs are kept, regularly reviewed, and tied to incident response procedures.
• Third-Party Compliance: Assess whether vendors and partners with network access follow adequate security standards.

By pairing policy reviews with technical testing, organizations gain a holistic picture of their security posture. This step also reinforces accountability, reduces compliance risk, and strengthens the foundation for ongoing network assessments.

#7. Document Results and Turn Findings into Action

With your inventory and results from the vulnerability assessment, penetration tests, and policy review, you can identify security aspects that need improving. Raw scan results aren’t enough, leaders need clear risk categories, potential impacts, and remediation priorities. A structured report can bridge the gap between technical detail and business decision-making. To turn documented results into actionable insights, you should:

• Categorize Vulnerabilities: Rank findings by the risk they pose to the organization.
• Map Risks to Business Impact: Determine how a vulnerability could lead to downtime, data breaches, compliance fines, or reputational damage.
• Prioritize Remediation: Recommend fixes in order of urgency, focusing on the most severe threats. Use frameworks to guide severity ratings.
• Assign Responsibilities: Outline which teams (IT, security, compliance, etc.) own each remediation step.

#8. Implement Security Controls and Build a Layered Defense

Once vulnerabilities are identified, organizations must implement security controls that strengthen defenses and reduce future risk. These controls generally fall into two categories:

• Preventative: Stop attacks before they happen (e.g., multi-factor authentication, role-based access, patch management, vendor security monitoring).
• Detective: Identify when a breach or misconfiguration has occurred (e.g., intrusion detection systems, log monitoring, continuous data leak detection).

To strengthen your security controls based on assessment findings, you should:

• Apply Insights: Use vulnerability assessment and penetration test results to guide updates to policies and technical controls.
• Update Policies: Formalize measures such as encryption, VPN usage, password managers, and BYOD security standards.
• Adopt a layered approach: Protect against single points of failure by combining firewalls, endpoint monitoring, intrusion prevention, and third-party oversight.
• Safeguard data: Maintain secure backups and segregated storage to ensure business continuity.

#9. Update Your Incident Response Plan

Even the strongest network defenses cannot guarantee zero incidents. A rapid response plan ensures your organization reacts swiftly, minimizes damage, and recovers quickly in the event of an attack. Use the results of various penetration tests to understand how different attack vectors infiltrate your system and develop new response mechanisms that limit their impact and get your business back to normal operations as quickly as possible.

Key components of an effective response plan should include:

• Real-Time Response: Speed is critical. Tools that provide live insights into network configurations – like firewalls and endpoints – enable immediate action during a breach.
• Automated Detection-Making and Alerts: Implement automation that identifies suspicious activity, isolates affected systems, and notifies cybersecurity teams. This is especially important for hybrid or cloud-based networks with widespread digital assets.
• Cross-Team Awareness: Security isn’t just IT’s responsibility. Train non-technical staff to recognize, report, and respond to potential threats, ensuring a coordinated approach.
• Defined Escalation Procedures: Clearly outline who is responsible for each step during an incident, from containment to communication with stakeholders and regulators.

#10. Continuously Monitor Networks

Cybersecurity is an ongoing process, and the final step focuses on maintaining network monitoring and risk management between assessments. Even after enhancing your defenses, you should continuously monitor networks to verify remediations and identify evolving threats. Establish a monitoring cycle and schedule regular security assessments, whether it is quarterly, annually, or after major changes, to maintain visibility over your infrastructure.

Security Risk Assessments with Check Point

Performing an effective and meaningful network security assessment that returns actionable insights to improve your security posture is not an easy task. It requires significant technical expertise and strong project management capabilities. Many organizations don’t have the in-house capabilities to complete these assessments on their own.

That is where experts like Check Point can help. With over 30 years at the forefront of the cybersecurity industry, Check Point offers extensive cyber risk assessments tailored to the client’s needs. Discover how we can break down your existing security capabilities and build up a new strategy for modern networking needs. Download our Cyber Risk Assessment Data Sheet or get in touch with a Check Point expert today.