Operations leader reviewing network security at her desk

Cybersecurity & network security

Network security checklist

You don’t have to be technical to know whether your network is protected. This checklist covers what to lock down first — written for plant managers and PMs, not network engineers.

Here’s the good news: most of what protects a business network isn’t exotic. It’s a handful of doors that need to stay locked. The gaps we find on plant floors and jobsites are rarely sophisticated — they’re the basics that slipped, because everyone was busy running the actual business.

Walk through the list below and mark what’s solid, what’s shaky, and what you’re not sure about. The “not sure” items are the ones worth a conversation.

The checklist: what to lock down first

Each item is framed as a business risk, not a technical spec. If you can’t confidently check it off, it belongs on your list.

No stale logins. Every former employee and old vendor account has been shut off.
Multi-factor on email. Email and key systems need more than a password to get in.
Backups that work. Backups run automatically and you’ve restored a file recently to prove it.
Separated networks. Shop-floor and guest devices are kept off your core business network.
Locked-down remote access. People connecting from home or the field come in through a secure, monitored path.
Up-to-date systems. Computers and network gear get security updates on a regular schedule.
A response plan. Someone knows exactly what to do in the first hour if something goes wrong.
Right-sized access. People can reach what they need for their job — and not everything else.

Why this matters when you’re not a tech company

Manufacturers and builders have become favorite targets for one simple reason: downtime is expensive, so there’s pressure to pay. An attacker who locks up your files the week before a deadline is betting you’ll pay to get back to work. You don’t need to fear that — you need to close the doors that make it easy. That’s what this list does.

Common gaps we see on plant floors and jobsites

The same handful of issues turn up again and again:

  • Logins that outlived the employee. Accounts for people who left months ago, still active.
  • No multi-factor on email. Email is the master key to everything else — and often the least protected.
  • Shop-floor or trailer devices on the same network as everything else. One compromised device shouldn’t reach the whole company.
  • Backups nobody has tested. A backup you can’t restore from isn’t a backup.

Remote access: the piece most teams miss

If people connect from home, the road, or a job trailer, remote access is your biggest single exposure — and the one most often left loose. It deserves its own attention: locked down, monitored, and set up so the wrong person can’t simply walk in. For the fuller picture of where security fits alongside uptime and recovery, see the IT infrastructure checklist.

What to fix now vs. what can wait

Sort your flagged items into two piles. Now: anything about access and backups — former-employee logins, missing multi-factor, untested backups. Those are the doors most likely to be tried. Soon: separating networks, tightening remote access, and formalizing who-can-touch-what. None of it has to happen overnight — it just has to happen on a plan.

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Not sure how you scored? Find out

Take the free 3-minute Network Readiness Check. It turns the gaps you flagged above into a clear picture of what to fix now, next, and later — no fearmongering, no jargon.