Network Security Assessment: A Guide

Network security analysis is essential for safeguarding an organization’s sensitive data, maintaining industry compliance, and staying ahead of threats. These assessments scan network systems, identify vulnerabilities, simulate attacks, and provide actionable recommendations for continuous improvement.

This article dives into how to conduct a network security assessment, its importance across industries, and best practices for long-term remediation and security.

Key highlights:

• Conducting regular network and security assessments helps organizations uncover vulnerabilities, prioritize risks, and implement effective remediation strategies.
• Vulnerability scanning and penetration testing work together to reveal security gaps and simulate real-world attack scenarios.
• Mapping and inventorying all network assets, including shadow IT and remote endpoints, is essential for comprehensive protection.
• Continuous monitoring and proactive threat detection tools like FireMon reduce manual errors and accelerate incident response.

What Is a Network Security Assessment?

A network security assessment is a comprehensive evaluation of an organization’s infrastructure. The goal is to discover, test, remediate, and continuously protect a company from all manner of potential security vulnerabilities. How prevalent are threats? A 2023 report by Qualys found 206 types of high-risk vulnerabilities, with over 50% being exploited by cybercriminals. 

The scale of this task can range from a single department to the entire company network. The network risk assessment process involves cataloging all assets, scanning them for vulnerabilities, testing them to simulate how a malevolent actor would penetrate the security system, developing protective remediation, and implementing those strategies.

Benefits of Properly Assessing Network Security

Network security assessments provide value both before and after a cybersecurity event. The following table outlines how different types of assessments improve threat detection, regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and recovery efforts. By proactively evaluating your security posture, organizations can mitigate risks and reduce the overall impact of an incident.

Types of Security Assessments for Networks

There are several types of security assessments organizations can use to strengthen their networks. Each offers unique insights into vulnerabilities, potential threats, and compliance gaps. 

Here are the most common assessment types and how they contribute to a more secure environment.

• Vulnerability Assessment: This systemized, repeatable assessment is a practical starting point for determining network security. The evaluation identifies, classifies, and prioritizes security vulnerabilities. This includes computer systems, applications, and network infrastructures.
• Penetration Testing: An internal test that simulates an actual cybersecurity attack on a network. This illustrates how well-protected a company network actually is, reveals methods of entry that a genuine hacker may use, and showcases how effective the response plan is.

• Network Security Audit: Focusing on a company’s cybersecurity policies, security audits thoroughly test how an organization’s security procedures, industry practices, and internal controls.

• Risk Assessment: A shift from network security vulnerability assessments, which focus on where infiltration can occur, risk analysis categorizes which areas of the company network are the most critical to protect. This often includes financial details, company IP, and sensitive client information. A risk assessment helps establish which data breaches would be the most damaging.

• Compliance Testing: This test ensures that company networks adhere properly to regulatory and industry standards such as HIPAA, WCAG, GDPR, and PCI DSS. Investing in compliance also assists with securing the company network, as illustrated in a Cyphere report, which found that approximately 75% of information security professionals utilize penetration testing with the goal of meeting regulatory compliance. 

How to Conduct a Network and Security Vulnerability Assessment

The following network security assessment checklist is designed to help you conduct a thorough assessment of your environment, allowing you to improve the overall posture of your enterprise.

Define Scope and Objectives

Before starting a network security assessment, it’s essential to clarify your goals and establish a clear framework. This stage forms the foundation of a successful evaluation. Here’s how to define your scope, objectives, and the extent of your asset review.

• Determine priorities and goals: Define the purpose for assessing network security. Is the goal to scan and protect the entire company network? Is it to secure a regional division before remote-first employees return to the office? Is it to secure third-party chat tools before a company launches a hybrid work structure?
• Build an asset map: Based on the project objectives, create a visual picture of all company network components. This includes servers, endpoints, client databases, proprietary assets, and other connected systems. It’s essential to use asset discovery tools to capture every element. After all, a team cannot protect an unknown asset.

Inventory Network Assets

With your scope defined, the next step is to to categorize and assess assets to ensure complete visibility and prioritize protection across your network. A comprehensive inventory is critical for effective security. You can’t protect what you don’t know exists. You need to:

• Determine asset value: Assign values to each inventoried asset based on how damaging it will be if the asset is published or lost. Some internal data cannot be recovered, while a hacker publishing client financial or medical data introduces separate disruptions.
• Categorize access level: Determine which company employees should have access to protected assets and how the existing security landscape supports that structure. It can be helpful to place assets in different “buckets,” such as data that is public, proprietary, compliance restricted, internal only, and executive only. After a thorough network security analysis, categorization helps establish what level of security an asset merits.

Perform Vulnerability Scanning

Once you’ve mapped your assets, the next step is to uncover weaknesses. Vulnerability scanning identifies exploitable flaws across systems, software, and connected devices. The following practices will help you expand your scan coverage and align with compliance goals.

• Expand search radius: Consider scanning all vulnerabilities that comprise the digital attack surface. This includes Wi-Fi routers across all company offices, individual access ports, third-party systems, legacy software, and recently downloaded applications.
• Automate: Scanning every possible vulnerability is a monumental task. Identify where to employ automated vulnerability scanning tools and free up the cybersecurity and IT teams.
• Ensure compliance is part of the picture: A network security analysis aims to help safeguard an organization from risk, including compliance and reputational risk. Ensure that priority vulnerabilities and remediation plans consider PCI DSS, HIPAA, WCAG, and GDPR.

Conduct Penetration Testing

To test your defenses in a real-world scenario, penetration testing simulates how an attacker might breach your network. These steps outline how to structure your tests and evaluate different approaches—black box, gray box, and white box—to gain comprehensive insights into your network’s resilience.

• Create a plan of attack: Based on the prioritized asset map and insights gained from the vulnerability assessment, determine the most business-critical data. Test the methods of infiltration flagged during the vulnerability scan. Plan ahead of time what the goal of the test is, which can range from staying within a system for as long as possible to exfiltrating specific customer data without being found.
• Utilize black box, gray box, and white box testing: Black box testing simulates an external attacker with no system knowledge, gray box reflects an insider threat with limited access, and white box represents a fully informed tester evaluating internal defenses.

Additional test strategies involve simulating how much information an outside actor needs to successfully hack into a network, such as public apps or emails, social media information, or heavy familiarity with a widely used third-party tool.

Analyze Results and Prioritize Risks

After your scans and tests are complete, the next step is to evaluate the findings and build a remediation plan. This is how to interpret assessment results, prioritize actions based on business impact, and assign responsibilities for timely mitigation:

• Review the report: Discuss the potential impact of the network security assessment with key leaders, including executives, legal personnel, and the finance team. Detail the findings, including the consequences of a successful breach. Classify the results by risk, create a plan, and determine the resources needed to secure the company network.
• Prioritize remediation areas: Focus on remediating the highest severity issues first. Evaluate each fix’s business impact and cybersecurity lift. Consider the likelihood of a breach, which data most appeals to malevolent hackers, and the fallout of a cyber attack.
• Assign responsibilities: Assign tasks to appropriate teams or individuals. In addition to cybersecurity and IT personnel, effectively communicate with HR, finance, compliance, and other relevant teams to detail progress and make a case for additional resources (new tools, personnel, and additional time).

Implement Proactive Security Controls

Strengthening your network security doesn’t stop with analysis. It requires applying the lessons learned to improve systems, policies, and behaviors. Here is how to establish long-term protection by updating controls, improving visibility, and identifying vulnerabilities before attackers do.

• Apply the insights: As teams remediate network security vulnerabilities, evaluate previous policies and decisions that resulted in the most significant risk. Apply data-driven decisions and audit insights to guide proactive security measures.
• Create new policies: Establish network security policies. This can include MFA, continuous monitoring, VPNs, role-based access controls, boosting firewalls and intrusion detection/prevention systems, and encrypting company information and messages.
• Identify weak spots: As cybercriminals use increasingly complex infiltration methods, previously effective security methods may become obsolete. Keep a duplicate copy of essential data secured on a separate and secure network system to ensure protection and operational efficiency.

Create a Rapid Response Plan

No matter how strong your defenses are, incidents can still occur. An effective response plan minimizes damage and speeds recovery. These steps  help to build a response framework that supports real-time reaction, automation, and cross-team awareness.

• Real-time responses: If a cybersecurity breach occurs, the most valuable commodity is response time. FireMon provides companies with real-time insights into their firewall configurations, allowing for rapid assessment and a swift response.
• Automate detections: Invest in automation that detects, shuts down, and alerts cybersecurity teams to malicious activity as it occurs. This is particularly helpful for widespread, hybrid, and cloud networks requiring large-scale security assessments.
• Ensure non-security teams are aware: Before an incident occurs, ensure all non-technical employees are aware of the new policies and security features and are equipped with the knowledge of how to stop and report an attack.

Gauge Results and Continue to Monitor

Security isn’t a one-and-done process—it requires ongoing evaluation and adaptation. Here is  how to measure the effectiveness of your remediations, monitor continuously for new threats, and ensure your security posture evolves with the threat landscape.

• Evaluate remediations: Review the efficacy of implemented changes. Conduct an additional network security assessment at least annually. As new security vulnerabilities are discovered, continue penetration tests to ensure the network is secure.
• Employ continuous monitoring: Implement network security monitoring tools that will inform teams of malicious instances. This is especially helpful during times of high activity, such as signing a new vendor, integrating a merger or acquisition, or an influx of new hires.
• Iterate with intention: Perpetually audit, pen test, and evaluate the state of internal cybersecurity. Implement security systems that allow for continuous security assessments for networks through pen testing and helpful insights for gradual security adjustments.

Selecting the Best Network Security Analysis Tools

Choosing the right tools is a critical step in executing an effective network security assessment. With the wide range of solutions available, it’s important to align your selection with your organization’s specific needs, existing infrastructure, and long-term security goals. This section outlines how to evaluate and choose tools that deliver the functionality, usability, and scalability required to strengthen your security posture and support continuous threat detection.

Define Specific Needs and Objectives

Choosing the right network security assessment tool starts with understanding your organization’s specific needs. This means determining the scope, type of threats to monitor, and the goals your tools must support.

• Determine the scope of the network and the designated devices to monitor.
• Anticipate the categories of network vulnerabilities the organization will likely encounter and the necessary type of testing and protection.

Evaluate Key Features and Capabilities

The right security tool should provide more than just basic protection. You need to prioritize features like real-time alerts, automation, analytics, and compliance tracking to ensure your tool meets both current and future challenges.

• Invest in robust tools that offer real-time threat detection, vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, compliance reporting, and other essential security benefits.
• Consider tools with advanced analytics, intuitive insight reporting, and machine learning capabilities to continuously improve threat detection.
• Ensure the tool supports various network environments, such as hybrid and cloud workplaces.

Assess Compatibility and Integration

Your network security tool should work seamlessly with your existing systems, offering compatibility with third-party apps, internal infrastructure, and security architecture to enable a unified defense.

• Check if the tool integrates with existing security systems, essential third-party platforms, and internal infrastructures.
• Identify tools that support integration with other robust security solutions for a layered security approach.

Consider Usability and Learning Curve

A highly capable tool won’t help if your team can’t use it effectively. You need a user-friendly tool to ensure your team can quickly adapt and manage it in high-pressure environments.

• Opt for tools with user-friendly interfaces to reduce your team’s learning curve. Conduct internal training to ensure all teams know how to utilize the security suite in case of a security breach.
• Evaluate the ease of setting up the tool, configuring it across the entire network, accessing alert features, and implementing security remediations.

Analyze Vendor Reputation and Support

When selecting a network security tool, consider the vendor behind it. Evaluate the provider’s industry reputation, customer service, and product reliability—especially in times of crisis.

• Research the vendor’s track record, stability, and background across industries.
• Consider the responsiveness and features of customer support, especially in crisis situations.
• Question vendors on how often they patch their systems to keep current with evolving threats.

Best Practices for Performing a Network Security Analysis

To ensure long-term protection and return on investment, organizations should follow proven best practices. From maintaining asset visibility to employing layered defenses, these six strategies can help enhance security and streamline your assessment efforts.

1. Maintain a Comprehensive Inventory

Perform a thorough analysis of all assets and potential vulnerabilities. This includes endpoints, routers, IoT devices, L2 and L3 devices, cloud-only assets, office networks, and remote worker devices. Automated tools within your system can efficiently achieve this and also assist with discovering shadow IT devices.

2. Use a Layered Approach

Employ a network security approach that circumvents the potential for a single point of failure. This includes protection measures across firewalls, endpoints, real-time visibility, and third-party software. 

3. Prioritize Vulnerabilities

Categorize which network vulnerabilities to remediate first based on their data value, exploitability, potential business impact, and compliance. Risk classification frameworks such as the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) can be used as a starting point to assess which threats are the most severe.

4. Continuously Monitor and Update

The most effective cybersecurity protection is one that is consistent. Regularly scan the network for vulnerabilities, employ continuous network monitoring, and update security software and internal practices to keep ahead of evolving threats.

5. Document Everything

Maintain comprehensive documentation of the network asset map, penetration testing results, outcome reports, implemented changes, and the timeline for past and future security audits. This helps track updates, chosen strategies, and ensures compliance as regulations change.

6. Start the Process

The most essential aspect of the network security assessment is beginning the process. A 2023 Edgescan report discovered that the Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) a network vulnerability instance is 60.3 days or just over two months. The best practice is to be preemptive and not delay the efforts needed to secure the network.

Streamline Your Network Security Assessments with FireMon

FireMon’s network security assessment software provides effective protection and continuous monitoring for hybrid cloud-based organizations. Our platform offers real-time threat detection, centralized policy management, and automated compliance reporting, ensuring adherence to industry standards. Its advanced analytics and risk mitigation tools help organizations identify vulnerabilities and efficiently prioritize remediation goals. 

By streamlining security operations and reducing manual errors, FireMon enhances network visibility and reporting, allowing teams to respond to potential threats quickly. Organizations benefit from an improved structure, reduced risk, and increased operational efficiency, making our solutions valuable for proactive cybersecurity management.

Need help getting started? Book a demo today to learn how FireMon can assist in your next network security assessment. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Does Network Scanning Help Assess Operations Security?

Network scanning plays a crucial role in asserting and maintaining operational security by mapping assets, identifying vulnerabilities, monitoring for unauthorized access, and assisting with regulatory compliance. It helps detect misconfigurations, outdated software, and other weaknesses attackers could exploit.

How Does a Security Assessment and Testing of My Network Impact Compliance?

Conducting security assessments and penetration testing identifies vulnerabilities, reveals where and how compliance-protected data is at risk, and recommends protective remediation strategies. Robust network security analysis tools help organizations meet compliance requirements by detecting non-compliant configurations and providing detailed audit reports.

How Often Should I Conduct a Full Network Security Risk Assessment?

Organizations should conduct security risk assessments at least annually to stay ahead of increasingly complex threats. However, companies in highly regulated industries should consider assessing their networks bi-annually, quarterly or monthly. In addition, organizations should conduct an assessment before and after significant milestones such as mergers, acquisitions, system-wide upgrades, or major product or brand launches.