Many organizations consider digital acceleration a key initiative because those in the C-Suite and IT leadership understand that to be competitive they must have a high-performance network. However, it can be difficult to know what to focus on because many different factors impact performance—from the network architecture to the age of the equipment to client devices.

One key factor that is often not prioritized is the quality of the organization’s network security.

Effective network security maintains control over who is on the network at any given time and what they can do while on it. This includes which applications they run and what resources they use.

Unfortunately, organizations are frequently forced to choose performance over security. This is due to their suboptimal firewalls’ inability to keep up with network traffic, resulting in bottlenecks and slowdowns. However, turning off security to increase performance is inviting disaster as that makes the organization vulnerable to the huge number of threats lurking in web traffic.

The answer to this conundrum is to employ industry-leading solutions with LAN-level security features that contribute to better network performance. Below is a list of security features we recommend for those organizations wanting superior network performance and protection.

Access control

Organizations must control who is able to get on their network(s) and once on, what they will be permitted to access. Without access control, devices that shouldn’t be on your network can join and potentially burden your network resources. Only authorized devices and users get in, preventing unwanted traffic from clogging up the works.

It’s like having a bouncer with a VIP list at the network’s door. Having consistent policies controlling who can access the network and what they can do improves overall network performance by eliminating riff-raff traffic and preventing overuse of key resources by others that don’t have approval, or a business need to employ them.

Authentication is a subset of access control that ensures a user is who they say they are. Again, like the bouncer who is checking everyone’s ID before they are permitted to enter. Today, zero-trust network access (ZTNA) is the best technology for authenticating users, validating their rights, and fortifying the organization’s security posture at all stages of access. By verifying users’ identities, you can be sure that only the right people are accessing your network resources, keeping things running smoothly.

Network and application performance are impacted by the number of devices and users that are accessing them at the same time. By limiting how many devices and the types of users who are on your network, you can improve your network’s performance and your users’ experience.

Guest limits

Many organizations have to allow non-employees, often referred to as guests, some level of network access. Guests on the network are always a potential security risk, and if not properly managed, they can also have a negative impact on your network performance.

Having no application or bandwidth controls on guest users can result in network resources being dominated by noncritical devices running personal applications. By setting limits on what guests can access and do, you prevent them from hogging bandwidth and slowing down the network for everyone else.

IoT device containment

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are everywhere and each can be security risks. Keeping them secure and controlled prevents them from becoming rogue actors that disrupt your network’s flow. Typically, IoT devices have little or no built-in security and can be easily compromised. Knowing what IoT devices are in your environment and implementing the correct security policies can help ensure that misbehaving devices or “runaway” applications do not disrupt your network.

One very excellent way for securing IoT devices is to have a feature that automatically contains those that are compromised. Malware on a compromised device is not only a security risk to company data, but malware processes are often network intensive as they comb the network looking for valuable data. Of course, this can slow down performance for the wider user base.

Traffic inspection

Traffic inspection is a double-edged sword. With the amount of encrypted traffic in use, traffic inspection is the only reliable way to offer the application control necessary to improve performance to business-critical devices. This also allows for limiting personal traffic to lower network impact. Further, if cyberthreats get into the network by hiding in encrypted traffic, the result could bring the network to a standstill. Choosing the right technology for traffic inspection is like having a good police officer, directing traffic based on priority and keeping things running smoothly. Put another way, business-critical applications are prioritized and non-essential traffic is prevented from slowing things down.

In a nutshell, network security isn’t just about protecting your network from threats, it’s about optimizing the network’s performance. By implementing robust security measures, you can create a network that’s both safe and speedy, allowing your business to thrive in the digital fast lane. While certainly not the only factor, security plays an important role in network performance. It should be carefully considered and implemented to optimize user experience in every possible area. A well-secured LAN is much more likely to be a high-performing LAN.