Category Compare: Network Security vs Cybersecurity

In this report, we define and compare network security and cybersecurity software to help you decide which one aligns with your business goals.

Every IT security manager understands that despite being highly advanced, IT systems and networks are still vulnerable to intrusions, cyberattacks, disruptions, malware, and other threats. If not dealt with properly, these attacks can interfere with business operations, cost lots of money to be fixed, and cause data breaches. Investing in network security or cybersecurity tools can help you solve these challenges. However, the confusion between these two software types continues to make it difficult for businesses to select the right tool.

Network security software and cybersecurity software are often mistaken for each other because both are categorized under security. While they have some overlapping features, the two software types are distinct in functionality. Network security, a subset of cybersecurity, monitors network traffic and alerts network administrators about risks and abnormal events. On the other hand, cybersecurity software identifies vulnerabilities and potential threats to protect business systems, applications, and networks from cyber threats, including viruses, ransomware, and phishing attempts.

Below, we'll talk about the similarities and differences between the two software categories to help you understand which one is better suited for your needs.

What is network security software?

Network security software helps to authenticate and control user access to your networks, identify/detect malicious traffic, and mitigate or block suspicious activity or applications. These tools also provide features to monitor, scan, and analyze your network activity in order to predict, detect, and prevent intrusions early.

Network security solutions employ various techniques—such as authentication, encryption, and system monitoring—to secure enterprise networks from malware, spyware, trojans, viruses, and phishing attacks.

Key features of network security software

The primary features of network security software include:

• Activity monitoring: Track the system and report any suspicious activity that may indicate an attempted intrusion, a distributed denial of services (DDoS) attack, or some other security threat.

• Threat response: Identify an attack, initiate remediation to lessen its effects, confine the damage, and address the root cause to lower the likelihood of further events.

• Firewalls: Use firewalls to monitor, control, and secure bidirectional traffic across networks. Firewalls decide whether to block or allow traffic from a source based on defined security policies and rules.

• Intrusion detection: Surveil network traffic to detect any kind of intrusion or unauthorized access to a device, network, or system and other infiltration activities (such as address spoofing, pattern evasion, and coordinated attacks).

• Patch management: Detect missing patches and install latest patch-fixes to keep the software up-to-date with recent patch releases and enhance network security.

• Policy management: Enforce and maintain policies related to network security and firewall management. Under these policies, you may establish the standards and rules that will be followed throughout your business to uphold your infrastructure security.

• Reporting/analytics: Generate reports that provide detailed records of security incidents, network activity, activity time, access attempts, and security failures, among others.

• Vulnerability scanning: Conduct network scans at regular intervals and receive alerts about potential security weaknesses or patch issues across your computer network. Network security tools also classify vulnerabilities and prioritize action items to minimize downtime.

• Access controls/permissions: Grant or revoke system access, control who can view and use the system, and issue passwords.

• VPN: Set up encrypted virtual private networks (VPNs) to secure data, protect personal information, access information remotely, and facilitate safe file sharing between groups.

What is cybersecurity software?

Cybersecurity software protects an organization’s IT networks, computers, servers, mobile applications, and software platforms from cyberattacks, such as ransomware, spyware, malware, and phishing. To prevent unwanted access and ensure real-time enterprise security, this tool makes use of technologies including data encryption, firewall defense, website scanning, and incident response.

Different types of cybersecurity software solutions include web vulnerability scanning, data encryption, penetration testing, network defense, firewall, antivirus, spyware protection, and password management.

Key features of cybersecurity software

The primary features of cybersecurity software include:

• Activity monitoring: Monitor and track end-user behavior across business IT resources, such as systems, devices, and networks.

• Endpoint protection management: Protect company assets by enforcing security policies across endpoints of user devices, such as remote desktops, laptops, and mobile devices connected to external networks—preventing advanced malware, as well as detecting and responding to intrusions.

• Anti-virus: Install anti-virus software to search, detect, prevent, and remove viruses and malwares that can harm your system. Many antivirus software offer real-time threat detection and proactive protection against vulnerabilities.

• Data security: Encrypt your business data so that only those with access to the encryption key may view or decode it. Encrypted data appears jumbled or as unintelligible text to those without the access to the encryption key.

• DDoS protection: Secure your websites, applications, and networks from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that overwhelms websites and online services with more traffic than the server or network can accommodate and uses this as an opportunity to infect the systems.

• Firewalls: Use firewalls to monitor, control, and secure bidirectional traffic across networks. Firewalls decide whether to block or allow traffic from a source based on defined security policies and rules.

• Policy management: Devise and maintain policies related to cybersecurity and firewall management. Under these policies, you may establish the rules to be followed when accessing and using an organization’s IT assets and resources.

• Reporting and statistics: Generate detailed reports on security events, network activity, activity time, access attempts, and security failures, among others.

• Vulnerability scanning: Run periodic vulnerability scans of your systems, software, and networks to detect and report on any new or existing security vulnerabilities, such as viruses and malware.

• IOC verification: Identify and flag indicators of compromise (IOC) such as unusual network traffic and DNS requests, login anomalies, and suspicious system file changes.

What do they have in common?

Cybersecurity and network security share a common goal: safeguarding digital assets, data, and networked systems of a business. The two categories are related to each other—cybersecurity is a subset of information security and network security is a subset of cybersecurity.

• Cybersecurity protects the systems, networks, and applications of an organization from all kinds of digital attacks, including phishing and baiting.

• Network security protects an organization’s IT infrastructure from online threats such as viruses, unauthorized access, and data breach.

Common features of network security and cybersecurity software include activity monitoring, threat response, firewalls, policy management, and reporting/statistics.

Which security tool is right for your business?

Before investing in any software, assess your business’s security requirements and objectives.

If your business needs a tool to safeguard critical assets and sensitive information from unauthorized access and digital attacks, go for cybersecurity software. A cybersecurity tool protects networked systems and applications from threats coming from both within and outside of a company.

If you want to secure your company’s computer systems, network, and data using hardware and software applications, network security software would be the right choice. A network security tool focuses on safeguarding the network and data from internal, as well as external attacks while maintaining their confidentiality and accessibility. Organizations that manage a lot of data require security solutions to protect themselves from cyber threats.

Network security protects any/all data flowing in the network. On the other hand, cybersecurity protects the data that resides on your device and server in cyberspace.

Once you’ve decided which software to use, head to our network security and cybersecurity software category pages where you can find a sortable list of products and software reviews from verified users.

If you want to narrow down your search to only the most popular and highest-rated solutions, visit Capterra’s Shortlist reports for the top network security software and cybersecurity software tools—our reports are based on an analysis of thousands of user reviews.

How to choose the right security software system for your business

The software you choose has to align with your operations’ needs. Here are some considerations to keep in mind while evaluating potential solutions:

• Analyze your security needs: Analyze the current state of your IT network security and risk profile before shortlisting any security software. Look at all possible sources of attacks that can cause your IT network infrastructure to crash. Also consider infrastructure investment and training expenses to choose a tool that aligns with your budget, as well as the existing IT environment.

• Look for layered security: Under layered security approach, multiple security controls are deployed to identify and isolate potential threats more effectively. This could include firewalls, malware scanners, local storage encryption tools, and intrusion detection systems.

• Check software compatibility: Consider your IT infrastructure (such as network specifications, software installations, and hardware equipment) to narrow down a list of prospective network security and cybersecurity solutions that work for your business. A media encryption feature, for instance, will be necessary if your company transfers data via portable storage devices to prevent infected files from accessing your network.

• Assess software scalability: Make sure the software you select enables you to scale up/down your IT infrastructure effectively and without incurring additional costs. Avoid investing in non-scalable tools because when your company grows, such inflexible tools will force you to change the entire network infrastructure.

Common questions to ask while selecting a tool for your business

Here are some questions to ask software vendors before making a final purchase:

• Does the tool have real-time threat detection? Many security software systems use machine learning to detect and stop unknown threats in real-time. The technology analyzes and flags network anomalies such as suspicious URLs, hashes of malwares, and domains of phishing websites, so they’re investigated for potential threats. It analyzes internet activity to automatically identify risky websites and prevent people from connecting to them.

• Is there a mobile application for your tool? Check if the software you’re planning to buy offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Ask vendors if their mobile apps provide access to daily security reports and analytics, so you can monitor your users and IT infrastructure even on the move.

• What customer support options are available? Inquire about the type of support provided by your shortlisted vendors: 24/7, 24/5, or only during business hours. Also, check if they are available on your preferred support channels, such as email, phone, or live chat. Technical support helps fix any network or system issues and prevent the loss of sensitive data.