Introduction
As the world transforms to digital-first, enterprise networks are becoming more complicated than ever. From hybrid infrastructures to cloud infrastructures, and mobile endpoints to IoT devices, there are more connected assets than ever before. While the rapid proliferation of connected devices is essential for innovation, it also poses significant threats for enterprise security. One often-unrecognized and critical risk challenge now facing many organizations, is incomplete, outdated, or non-existent network inventory data. Without knowing exactly what exists on the network, IT leaders are unable to address many of the most significant gaps in enterprise security.
This is where network inventory audits become critical. By deliberately and systematically discovering and validating all devices, all connections, and all applications, across the entire extended enterprise, organizations, can effectively eliminate the blind spots created by missing inventory and remediate the environment to achieve a stronger security posture. For CIOs, CTOs, or CISOs, auditing the network regularly is not even an exercise, it is an active measure to protect business continuity as per Slurp’it.
The Importance of Network Inventory Audits for an organization.
A network inventory audit will provide you an up-to-date, clear view of all assets back to their configurations. Without this visibility, which many organizations face, there are a number of risks that could be related to the enterprise facing:
- Shadow IT Risks: These are unmanaged devices or applications that are running outside of IT’s visibility or oversight.
- Improperly Configured Assets: These are devices that are unsecured, or software solutions that have been misconfigured and still remain exposed.
- Outdated/Unpatched Systems: These are devices that might have a piece of firmware or software that is out of date, no longer supported, or at the end-of-life stage.
- Regulatory Exposure: This is typically related to loss or absence of compliance documentation and may increase exposure during the auditing processes.
In a recent 2023 study conducted by the Ponemon Institute, 71 percent of organizations reported feeling they had no complete visibility into their networks. That lack of visibility will play a significant role in providing factors that could lead to increases in security incidents as well as time to respond to those incidents as per Slurp’it.
What are the Security Loopholes Caused by Incomplete Network Data?
1. Unmanaged Endpoints
Every laptop, smartphone, desktop, IoT device, or anything else you have not itemized on its own has the potential to become an entry point for an attack. As documented in many reports, due to the transition to remote and hybrid work, endpoints have spread exponentially, increasing the importance of conducting audits to evaluate against configuration vulnerabilities and organizational standards for use of endpoint devices.
2. Legacy Devices Still in the Environment
Organizations will run on obsolete hardware or unsupported firmware that has simply gone unnoticed, overlooked, or forgotten by IT. These devices do become an easier target and the low hanging fruit. Network audits will uncover these devices that should be compromised easily enough to gain entry into a segmented network if not worse.
3. Misaligned Firewall Rules and Access Controls
When IT is not aware of a new device on the network, the rules and policy for the corresponding firewall control list could misalign with policy and/or security controls. Misalignment of this type could lead to a loophole in the firewall rule removing the requirement for a device to authenticate, or access.
4. Vendors and Third-party Risk
In larger organizations with multiple vendors or partners depending on the connection established with the network, there are likely weak management controls in place to determine who has access to the network. Gaps and more understanding of this process will remain open indefinitely as per Slurp’it.
How Network Inventory Audits Strengthen Security
1. Complete Asset Discovery
Performing audits will provide organizations transparency regarding all devices, applications, and traffic paths regardless of the transactions. Transparency will improve and allow IT leaders to eliminate or discover the unseen exposures the audit creates, as well as consistently enforce policy.
2. Patch and Vulnerability Management
Audits will reveal the applications or systems that are out of date or need patching or just acknowledging. An attack is not going to stay dormant forever. Audits will allow the IT team to patch or prioritize any discovered exposures before it represents an exploitable exposure.
For example, in Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report, 82 percent of the breaches were shown to be the result of vulnerabilities employed for months if not years prior to the breach.
3. Policy Enforcement
Audits help to verify that the security policies (role-based access controls and firewall settings) are being followed and match the actual behavior of the network. Policies are of little value if there are enough misconfigurations that expose an organization’s sensitive data as per Slurp’it.
4. Compliance Alignment
The finance, healthcare, or telecommunications industries all work in strict compliance, such as (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS), and network inventory audits provide the documentation and reassurance to allow organizations to pass a regulatory audit while mitigating risk of non-compliance.
Best Practices for Conducting Network Inventory Audits
● Automate Discovery
Utilize automated discovery tools that take a continuous inventory of new devices and connections. Manual processes are far more prone to errors, and can’t keep up with today’s highly dynamic networks.
● Conduct Audits on a Schedule
A one-time audit is simply not enough. Large enterprises should plan for either quarterly or even monthly audits, depending on compliance requirements and risk profile.
● Utilize in conjunction with Security Tools
Combine audit findings with SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), firewall logs, consumable access logs, and access management utilities to close the gaps in real time.
● Identify High-Risk Assets
Focus on endpoints and systems that expose sensitive or business confidentiality data externally. It will be important to have tighter controls around external access as well as more frequent audits of the bigger risks.
● Detail the findings
Audits should include a detailed report that highlight findings related to vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and fixes or recommendations. The reports should be reviewed with senior IT leaders, and include tracking of actions taken for accountability.
Does it give Strategic Value to IT Executive?
For CIOs and CISOs audits of the network inventory baseline are not simply operational checks or reviews, it is a way to build resilience into the business. Network audits can:
- Mitigate risk of outages by remediating vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
- Our clients will trust you if you intend to invest in their business with them; it strengthens trust with regulators to control the risk of business failure due to compliance or security erosion.
- Significantly reduce the cost of security incidents over the life of the organization’s partnerships.
- Support and build long-term digital transformation by establishing a reliable foundation for future technology needs.
For the cloud-first, hybrid and tangled networks, audits are not optional. They are a necessary implementation to proactively build the security of sensitive data, have confidence in compliance and maintain trust in the business. For more information on network inventory audit, contact us at Slurp’it!