If a firewall is being used as a “set it and forget it” solution, how safe is the network? The truth is that even a thoughtfully configured firewall can fall short of catching many new and sophisticated threats on the landscape. While periodically reviewing and updating firewall settings definitely helps, many businesses choose to remove the uncertainty by opting for a managed firewall solution. Here’s a breakdown of what a managed firewall is, the kinds of managed firewall services available, their benefits, and the advantages a next-generation firewall has over a traditional one.
A managed firewall is a third-party service that configures, manages, and monitors a firewall for your organization. They can also handle deployment from start to finish and manage any issues that pop up.
A firewall can be a powerful asset when trying to control the kinds of interactions a network has with the rest of the internet, as it prevents data packets from entering or exiting a network.
However, if a firewall’s settings aren’t optimized, it could allow malicious data to enter a network or enable users to access dangerous sites. A managed firewall service prevents this from happening by utilizing the experience and knowledge of seasoned professionals who understand:
A managed firewall ensures that a firewall’s defenses are bolstered by true cybersecurity experts. In turn, an organization is protected from threats such as:
In some ways, a firewall can be compared to a high-performance car. Even an avid car enthusiast may not know how to tune the turbo’s PSI or port the cylinder heads to maximize power. But a professional tuner can do it in their sleep. It’s the same with a firewall. When “tuned” correctly, they can block a wide variety of threats while also ensuring that employees have the network access they need. With a managed firewall, professional tuners maximize results.
Because firewall management services are catered to the needs of a business and its network, they’re all unique. But here are some common types of managed firewall services:
Of course, there are many different variations of these services. A managed firewall, for example, could segment a network by separating different areas with firewalls. If a customer relationship management (CRM) system has sensitive client data that an attacker would love to filch, a managed firewall services provider could deploy a firewall that enables a needs-based access policy for that segment of the network. In other words, the firewall would only allow the CRM to communicate with on-premise and remote workers who absolutely needed it to perform their jobs. The firewall would reject all other transmissions of data going to or coming from the server that hosts the CRM.
A managed firewall services provider configures, deploys, manages, and updates the firewalls needed to boost an organization’s cybersecurity. However, the process is more involved than simply choosing a firewall and turning on a few settings. For example, a services provider would:
Once they’ve taken these steps, managed firewall engineers will figure out the most effective configurations for protecting the environment.
For example, suppose there is an application that sits in an area of a network that can accept data from anyone on the internet. This could be very dangerous, especially because some hackers flood networks with malware designed to identify open, vulnerable ports. During the discovery meeting, it becomes clear to the managed firewall provider that only a few people in the organization really need access to that app. Using this data, the provider can whitelist the IP addresses those people are most likely to use. In this way, the attack surface shrinks considerably.
A managed firewall provider has a deep understanding of the latest developments in the threat landscape, knowing things that even internal security specialists haven’t caught wind of.
For example, hackers are constantly trying to find ways of taking advantage of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Each one provides a potential foothold in a network — whether it’s an office fish tank or a handheld scanner on the factory floor. As each new attack technique and technology evolves on the threat landscape, a managed services provider can use this intel to ensure that the firewall protects IoT devices.
Also, because some cybercriminals may use an IoT device to penetrate a network it connects to, a managed firewall’s team may recommend ways of safeguarding other network assets to protect them from infiltration.
As with many managed security services, one of the most significant benefits it confers is more time. For example, consider an IT team that handles a multitude of threats, technologies, and user issues on a daily basis. A job that was originally manageable can quickly become so intense and complicated that it leads to burnout. By securing a managed firewall service, an IT team can check off a huge box on their list of things to do.
As a result, IT professionals are free to engage in other business-critical projects, such as:
In addition to freeing up IT teams to tackle other endeavors, using managed firewall services also avails organizations of safer ways to run their networks.
For example, suppose there’s a third-party vendor that an organization wants to partner with, but it’s concerned about threats that could come from within the vendor’s system. The managed services provider could:
In some ways, a next-generation firewall (NGFW) is simply a more advanced firewall, one that can detect more threats than a traditional firewall. But what makes an NGFW unique is the technologies it uses to stop threats.
For example, a NGFW can detect threats based on their behavior instead of the contents of each data packet. They often use machine learning (ML) to automate this process because ML can establish patterns of acceptable and unacceptable data packet behavior to determine which packets to discard.
The term “traditional firewall” often refers to a stateful firewall, which stops threats by first establishing what safe and unsafe states are. The “state” of a network refers to how it operates and the data flowing through it at a given point. If there’s network activity that could put the system out of a safe state, a traditional firewall will reject data packets that could pose a threat.
This also includes determining safe and unsafe files and data packets. If a traditional firewall detects malware that has been registered in its system, for example, it will automatically reject that data, not allowing it to pass through.
A NGFW, on the other hand, can go beyond relying only on states or threat signatures to protect a network. As previously mentioned, it can use ML to pinpoint and stop threats.
To learn more about how a managed firewall from TPx can benefit your network, get in touch with us below.
We’re ready to answer any of your questions. Visit our Technical Support page for phone numbers and web portal links.
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