What is network visibility?
Network visibility allows a business to see all traffic moving through a network and understand the devices and applications connected to allow this traffic to flow through the system.
Network visibility consists of hardware and software with in-built tools to give IT teams greater insight into the network’s traffic, protocols, and rules established during network monitoring.
Network management tools are typically used to contain all data about the system, from network maps to asset lists. This software provides a centralized hub for network information to give teams more visibility and opportunities for collaboration across the company.
Basic elements of network visibility
Good network visibility means teams can view and understand anything happening within a system at any moment. To achieve this, there must be accessible insight into:
- Traffic: Any data moving through the network and users accessing the system must be viewable. Traffic metrics are some of the most important pieces of data that teams need to determine the network's overall security. Anomalies in traffic data could suggest attempts by cybercriminals to access the system, or there could be other issues that need addressing.
- Performance: Like traffic, the overall performance of the system and devices connected is critical to maintaining a secure network. Performance data should be captured in real-time, along with traffic information, to allow teams to perform regular maintenance checks and update the system as needed.
- Applications: Any third-party applications that need to connect to the network should be included in a network map and be visible to the team managing the overall network. Like devices, applications may need updates that impact how they work within the network. This is especially crucial to monitor, as gaps between applications and the network could be exploited maliciously.
Benefits of network visibility
The more information an IT team has on what’s happening within a network, the greater their ability to manage it effectively and keep business data safe. Other key benefits of network visibility include:
- Tracking bandwidth: Excessive bandwidth usage by various departments can slow down an entire network for the rest of the company. With network visibility, devices or applications using the most bandwidth can be easily seen, and access can be limited if necessary.
- Minimizing downtime: Network visibility means that any potential issues within the network can be proactively planned for before they become a problem across the whole system. With these plans in place, businesses can experience less network downtime and uninterrupted work.
- Detecting threats: Malicious activity can occur at any point in the network, so having full visibility at all times is critical. Visibility also means baselines can be determined and anomalies more easily detected, while logs are created for future analysis and comparison.
- Planning for growth: As the business grows, so too must the network. Having high visibility means that the company can more easily scale its digital operations and make informed decisions about the necessary technology to support its growth.
Network visibility best practices
Regardless of the size of the network, having a deep understanding of every part is essential for safeguarding business data. When thinking about improving network visibility, teams must incorporate:
- Regular data collection and review: The best network visibility comes from large amounts of data about every part of the network. Data should be continually collected, with frequent assessments conducted by the IT team. From there, information can be visualized and disbursed to make upgrades, improvements, or to fix uncovered critical issues.
- Ongoing threat analysis: Working with professional security analysts, teams can pinpoint areas of the network that may be weaker than others and be at risk of breaches from cyber criminals. The greater the visibility into the network, the more effective threat detection and prevention will be.
- Real-time alerts: Finding out about issues weeks or months after they arise can damage an organization. All network visibility measures should include real-time alerts for any security threats, compliance issues, or decreases in performance. This allows teams to correct problems before they grow and cause more issues within the network and business.
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