The Compliance Checklist for Network Security: 25 Controls That Are Mapped and Prepared for Auditing

Following new SEC rules announced on July 26, 2023, U.S. public companies are required to disclose any cybersecurity incident deemed ‘material’ within four business days of that determination. This requirement became effective for most companies on December 15, 2023. The average global cost of a data breach surged to $4.88 million in 2024, with significant variations across industries. For example, the financial sector faced an average cost of $6.08 million, while breaches involving over 50 million records averaged a staggering $375 million. Boards, auditors, and customers now demand tangible proof of effective cybersecurity measures rather than outdated reports. A comprehensive network security compliance checklist outlines 25 essential controls aligned with ISO 27001, SOC 2, and NIST 800-53, facilitating automatic evidence collection to ensure audit readiness.

Firewalls serve as the critical barrier to network access, allowing only approved traffic to pass. The importance of maintaining firewall hygiene is highlighted by a Gartner prediction from 2019, which indicated that 99 per cent of firewall breaches would result from misconfigurations rather than software flaws. It is essential to keep firewall rules simple, permitting only the necessary ports and protocols for each business function. Clearly defined rules not only satisfy ISO 27001 A.8.20 and meet SOC 2 CC6 for logical access but also align with the System & Communications Protection family in NIST 800-53. Regular reviews of these rules, ideally on a monthly basis, help prevent stale “temporary” exceptions that attackers may exploit. Network segmentation further enhances security by isolating different parts of the network, effectively slowing down lateral movement by attackers and containing potential breaches.