The CISO’s Playbook: 5 Essential Network Security Practices

THE CISO’S PLAYBOOK: 5 ESSENTIAL NETWORK SECURITY PRACTICES 2

CISOs face a barrage of new challenges when it comes to securing their corporate networks. The shift to remote and hybrid work, an expanding attack surface, and increasingly capable threat actors aided by AI continue to create headaches for security leaders. In 2024 alone, there were more than 3,000 data breaches resulting in an astounding 1.7 billion breach notifications sent to individuals worldwide, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.

CISOs face a barrage of new challenges when it comes to securing their corporate networks.

Attack methods are getting more sophisticated at the same time that more workers are connecting remotely, a scenario where security solutions can easily multiply and become complicated to manage.

With so many dynamic challenges, it can be difficult to prioritize and implement the essential steps for comprehensive network security. Here are the top five network security practices every CISO needs to consider.

https://www.idtheftcenter.org/publication/2024-data-breach-report/

THE CISO’S PLAYBOOK: 5 ESSENTIAL NETWORK SECURITY PRACTICES 3

A converged SASE platform enhances visibility, reduces the administrative burden and reduces overall costs

Malicious actors continually seek opportunities to infiltrate corporate networks, whether it’s through malicious web traffic, phishing, stolen credentials, and other vectors. Meanwhile, security teams are often spread thin and lack the resources to manage users and policies as well as monitor activity across disparate security tools.

That’s why CISOs are opting for SASE platforms that consolidate multiple capabilities including secure remote access, firewall-as-a-service, advanced malware protection, and secure web gateway. Some CISOs are extending their SASE coverage even further to account for threats impacting mobile devices, web browsers, and SaaS applications.

This is where a platform approach makes a meaningful difference. A robust, converged SASE solution gives CISOs consistent and comprehensive visibility into network activity, enables centralized policy-setting that reduces the administrative burden, and lowers TCO when compared to licensing a range of point solutions.

Adopt a Platform Approach

THE CISO’S PLAYBOOK: 5 ESSENTIAL NETWORK SECURITY PRACTICES 4

ZTNA provides granular access controls that limit the attack surface

With remote work now a standard practice, companies must continuously address the risks of compromised employee credentials and malicious attempts to infiltrate corporate networks.

Traditional remote access technology like legacy VPNs can no longer match today’s threats. Legacy VPNs give users within the organization permission to access the entire internal network, exposing the organization to an attack if a user’s credentials are stolen. These VPNs are also complex to configure making it difficult to restrict users and devices from accessing specific applications.

ZTNA, however, allows companies to easily segment user permissions to provide people access only to the resources they need. Granular access controls significantly decrease security risks and shrink the potential attack surface. A comprehensive ZTNA solution also hides resources’ external IP addresses from would-be attackers.

Get Armed with Zero Trust Network Access

THE CISO’S PLAYBOOK: 5 ESSENTIAL NETWORK SECURITY PRACTICES 5

MFA and agentless ZTNA help safeguard against credential theft and other threats

Many organizations provision network access to third-party contractors and employees using unmanaged devices, which is convenient for the user but potentially risky for the organization. That’s why finding a secure solution for enabling agentless access is on top of every CISO’s list of must-haves.

With Agentless ZTNA, users are able to securely access specific applications – and only those applications – based on their permissions. Application access is facilitated by HTTPS, RDP, VNC, and SSH protocols via a browser.

Isolate Resources with Agentless Access

Each user access session is tracked and limited to devices that comply with policies around location, time, browser, OS, and more, making Agentless ZTNA an essential part of a CISO’s security toolkit.

Security teams should also implement robust multifactor authentication along with Agentless ZTNA to ensure that networks and resources are protected from a wide range of attacks and vulnerabilities. Additionally, finding an Agentless ZTNA provider with easy monitoring and tracking allows CISOs to keep an eye on the activity of third-party contractors across all their resources.

THE CISO’S PLAYBOOK: 5 ESSENTIAL NETWORK SECURITY PRACTICES 6

A cloud-based full mesh architecture addresses organizations’ speed, security, and reliability needs

Unreliable connectivity and limited scalability can frustrate users and diminish organizational productivity, while poor visibility and inefficient routing cause security gaps and administrative headaches. CISOs facing these challenges often resort to expensive hardware or inadequate software solutions, leading to higher costs, poor performance, added risks – or all of the above.

Establish Secure, High-Speed Connectivity

By choosing a solution with a cloud-based full mesh architecture and built-in encryption, CISOs can address their speed, security, and reliability requirements, keeping workers productive and admins fully informed.

A business network global private backbone facilitates use cases like direct VoIP between offices, server-to- server communications, and user-to-user connectivity. This results in efficient data transfers, better application performance, and improved collaboration among workers.

THE CISO’S PLAYBOOK: 5 ESSENTIAL NETWORK SECURITY PRACTICES 7

CISOs must adhere to the highest standards of software security compliance to ensure that organizational and customer data remains fully protected. One easy way to move in this direction is to prioritize solutions from vendors that have signed the CISA Secure by Design Pledge. These vendors follow best practices for secure

There are no shortcuts when it comes to security compliance, but taking the right steps will pay off in the long run as your organization gears up to cover all of its security needs.

Align with Compliance Mandates

GDPR - Follow GDPR compliance by encrypting data, providing access to data in a timely manner following a physical or technical incident, and ensuring confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience of systems.

HIPAA -Avoid using open public networks to transmit patient data. If the connection is not fully secured, CISOs risk exposing their practice to large HIPAA-related fines, as well as having the network invaded by intruders.

SOC 2 Type 2 - You can get the assurance you need by finding a platform with a SOC 2 Type 2 compliance badge, promising you honest security and privacy through the cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments.

ISO 27001 & 27002 - Go beyond the requirements and seek a platform with these two additional standards of information security systems and processes. Solutions abiding by ISO 27001 & 27002 compliance confirm they meet the highest level of risk assessment and management.

development, default settings, transparency, and rapid vulnerability management. By choosing such products, CISOs can reduce risk, enhance resilience, and align with evolving regulatory and compliance directives. Here are additional ways CISOs can align with compliance mandates:

THE CISO’S PLAYBOOK: 5 ESSENTIAL NETWORK SECURITY PRACTICES 8

With Harmony SASE, CISOs can empower their IT teams to create, manage, and monitor the company’s network from a unified platform.

Consolidated control

Harmony SASE simplifies network administration and consolidates an unmatched set of capabilities within a unified platform. This bolsters your protection overall while allowing network admins over user access and policies from a centralized console.

Protection from Internet-borne threats

Harmony SASE incorporates a secure web gateway that delivers 10x faster connectivity than other options. Its hybrid architecture protects your network and users, even when they are not connected to the corporate network.

Complete visibility and monitoring

With detailed data reports, your team can fully monitor and secure your most valuable resources by identifying unusual activity and analyzing network trends.

Secure user connections

Harmony SASE’s integrations with major identity providers make it easy to implement Multifactor Authentication and Single Sign-On, allowing users to safely connect to the network with passwordless authentication.

Covering all the bases

Harmony SASE accommodates both agent-based and agentless access to users, allowing IT to securely grant permissions to employees and third- party contractors.

Safer browsing

Harmony SASE’s Automatic Wi-Fi security solution activates extra protection when employees connect to unknown networks. Meanwhile, the Harmony Browse integration provides multi-layered web threat prevention on major browsers.

Harmony SASE for CISOs

THE CISO’S PLAYBOOK: 5 ESSENTIAL NETWORK SECURITY PRACTICES 9

Meet Check Point SASE 10x Faster Internet Security | Full Mesh Private Access | SaaS Security | Secure SD-WAN Check Point SASE is a game-changing solution that delivers 10x faster internet security, SaaS Security, full mesh Zero Trust Access, and optimized SD-WAN performance—all with an emphasis on streamlined management.

Using Check Point SASE, businesses can seamlessly build a secure corporate network over a private global backbone. The service is managed from a unified console and is backed by an award-winning global support team that has you covered 24/7.

To learn more, visit https://www.checkpoint.com/harmony/sase/ or schedule a demo.

Expanded protection

Unlike other vendors, Harmony SASE extends security to your mobile devices, web browsers, and SaaS applications. This helps defend your network against an extensive range of attacks.

Keep your employees and resources safe with Harmony SASE. Book a demo to get started today!

Enhanced compliance

Harmony SASE meets the highest standard of compliance, aligning with GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type 2, and ISO 27001 & 27002 compliance regulations to ensure your organization’s data is fully protected.

Scale as you grow

With more than 80 global PoPs, Harmony SASE allows you to scale quickly and effortlessly, adding networks and gateways without limits.

https://www.checkpoint.com/harmony/sase/ https://sase.checkpoint.com/demo?utm_content=WPR&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=CISO-essential-practices https://sase.checkpoint.com/demo?utm_content=WPR&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=CISO-essential-practices