What is IT infrastructure security?

Companies implement various controls and protocols to ensure their technical foundation remains safe from both internal and external threats. These security measures also need to evolve due to advances in technology and new vulnerabilities that appear as a result. Effective infrastructure security requires a comprehensive approach that addresses physical security, network security, and application security simultaneously.

IT infrastructure faces numerous security threats that can compromise systems and data, such as malware, phishing, DDoS attacks, physical security breaches, and many more. An understanding of these threats is essential for companies to develop effective defense strategies. Common threats include:

• Malware (viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware)
• Phishing and social engineering attacks
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
• Insider threats from employees or contractors
• Weak authentication and password vulnerabilities
• Zero-day exploits targeting unknown software flaws
• Man-in-the-middle attacks intercepting communications
• SQL injection and other code injection attacks
• Unpatched software vulnerabilities
• Physical security breaches

Businesses must remain vigilant and implement layered security measures to protect against these evolving threats to their IT infrastructure.

There are several best practices that companies can implement to ensure higher levels of protection against threats to their IT infrastructure. These include strict access controls, security updates, and other actions. The key is to remain vigilant and adapt to the changing threat landscape. These and other strategies are:

• Strong access controls to ensure only authorized personnel can access sensitive systems and information.
• Regular security updates and patches to fix known vulnerabilities in operating systems and applications.
• Network segmentation to divide infrastructure into separate zones to contain potential breaches and limit an attacker's movement.
• Comprehensive data encryption to protect information both while stored and when transmitted between systems.
• Security assessments and penetration testing to identify weaknesses before attackers can exploit them.
• Creating and testing disaster recovery to prepare to maintain or quickly restore operations after security incidents.

Many individual experts and organizations devote their resources to identifying how threat actors obtain access to sensitive information, including through the use of new technologies. Businesses that stay up to date on their findings and implement their suggestions will help create secure IT infrastructure.

Companies can implement a variety of security measures to protect their IT infrastructure from threats, such as firewalls, intrusion detection, data backup, and other controls that work together to create layers of defense. Other key security measures include:

• Firewalls that filter network traffic based on security rules
• Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS)
• Multi-factor authentication requiring multiple verification methods
• Regular and secure data backups stored off-site
• Security information and event management (SIEM) systems
• Endpoint protection software for individual devices
• Network segmentation to contain potential breaches
• Encryption for data at rest and in transit
• Regular security awareness training for employees
• Vulnerability scanning and penetration testing

With these measures in place, businesses reduce their risk exposure and better protect their critical IT assets from compromise.