No matter what year it is, security is always top of mind.

Budgets, efficiency, and your SaaS stack are all secondary to keeping your network and your company secure. But what tools should you use to ensure your network is safe from cyberattacks? This article will discuss 10 of the most used network security tools for your IT team.

But importantly, no network security tool is holistic, and many security concerns stem from a lack of visibility for Security, Compliance, and IT teams. Since cloud apps (SaaS) are increasingly the source of security breaches, your first priority should be discovery. Discovery is the act of identifying all the apps within your ecosystem, both sanctioned and Shadow IT. 

Security starts with visibility – Torii is the leading App Discovery tool—a SaaS Management Platform that uses multiple sources of data to uncover the apps hidden in the shadows. Learn more about how Torii can help you gain visibility, centralize your application data, automate your time-wasting tasks, and optimize the ROI of every tool you use.

Request a Demo of Torii

10 Network Security Tools to Keep Your IT Team Productive and Secure in 2023

Bonus: SaaS Management Platform (SMP)

The first tool on this list is not a conventional Network Security tool, but as Gartner indicates in their Market Guide for SaaS Management Platforms, an SMP includes “the ability to discover, manage, automate, optimize, protect, govern and enable SaaS.” Essentially, SMPs offer the visibility into a company’s SaaS stack that then empowers them to enact thoughtful and effective security protocols going forward. They also provide the capabilities to automate many of those processes.

Learn more about Torii’s Shadow IT discovery tool for 2023

1. Firewall Protection

Firewall protection is one of the essential security tools for any network. It helps protect against external threats by blocking malicious traffic from entering the network. Several types of firewalls are available, including hardware firewalls, software firewalls, and cloud-based firewalls.

Learn more about the top Firewall Protection tools for 2023

2. Web Application Firewall

A web application firewall (WAF) provides an extra layer of security by filtering out malicious requests before they reach your web server. This can help protect against SQL injection attacks, cross-site scripting attacks, and more.

Learn more about the top Web Application Firewall (WAF) tools for 2023

3. Intrusion Detection and Prevention System

An intrusion detection and prevention system (IDPS) monitors network traffic for suspicious activity and alerts you when it detects something out of the ordinary. This is a great way to catch potential attackers in the act and stop them before they can do any damage to your systems.

Learn more about the top Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDPS) tools for 2023

4. Endpoint Security

Endpoint security solutions monitor devices on the network for suspicious activity and block malicious traffic before it reaches other systems on the network. These solutions can also be used to detect malware or other malicious programs on endpoints such as laptops or mobile devices.

Note: There are many sub-categories of Endpoint Security:

5. Antivirus Software

Antivirus software scans files regularly for viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malicious programs that can harm a system or steal sensitive information from it. It’s important to keep antivirus software up-to-date to ensure maximum protection against new threats that may arise over time.

Learn more about the top Antivirus tools for 2023

6. Network Monitoring Tools

Network monitoring tools allow you to view detailed information about what’s happening on your network at any given time, including who is connected and which files are being shared among users on the system. This information can help identify potential security threats before they become serious issues.

Learn more about the top Network Monitoring tools for 2023 

7. Password Manager

Password managers store all of your passwords in an encrypted vault so that you don’t have to remember them all yourself or write them down somewhere where they might be vulnerable to theft or misuse. Password managers also come with additional features such as two-factor authentication that further enhance security measures taken by users accessing the system remotely

Learn more about the top Password Manager tools for 2023

8. Encryption Software

Encryption software encrypts files so that only authorized personnel can access them, even if they fall into the wrong hands due to hacking or some other type of breach. This helps protect sensitive information from unauthorized access, even if someone were able to gain access to it somehow.

Learn more about the top Encryption Software tools for 2023

9. Vulnerability Scanners

Vulnerability scanners search for vulnerabilities in systems and networks so that IT teams can address them before attackers exploit them. They provide detailed reports about each vulnerability, giving IT teams insight into where improvements need to be made to make their networks more secure.

Learn more about the top Vulnerability Scanner tools for 2023

10. Cloud Security Platforms

Cloud security platforms provide enterprise-level protection for cloud-based services like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), including real-time monitoring for suspicious activity.

Learn more about the top Cloud Security Platform tools for 2023

Conclusion

With these 10 network security tools, you’ll have everything you need to keep your IT team productive while also keeping your systems safe from cyberattacks. However, tools alone won’t save the day. Effective network security also requires collaboration between different teams within the organization. In fact, we found that only 20% of companies experience consistent collaboration between IT and Security and Compliance teams!

To learn more about how to increase collaboration and improve your SaaS visibility, check out the Distributed SaaS Management Playbook. A IT Management framework specifically designed for all the challenges of today’s messy SaaS ecosystem.