Firewall Management: A Streamlined Solution for Cybersecurity
There are countless tools and tactics you can use for cybersecurity. There are also a huge number of providers and security services offering to bolster your digital defenses. But of all the options available, arguably none does more to protect IT environments than one in particular: firewall management.
Firewalls are the Start of Strong Cybersecurity
Firewalls filter traffic coming in and out of networks. They have always been a vital cybersecurity tool because firewalls can either allow attacks inside a network, where they can wreak havoc, or block them at the perimeter so the attack fails.
In many ways, firewalls determine the fate of cybersecurity. Strong ones prevent attacks and take pressure off other security tools – they’re a force multiplier for cybersecurity. But weak firewalls are just the opposite because they make life easier for attacks and harder for security teams. You have a huge incentive to put the strongest firewalls in place possible.
Unfortunately, that’s not easy for anyone except the largest companies in the world
The problem isn’t installing the devices themselves – it’s keeping them updated with the latest threat intelligence. Firewalls cannot stop what they don’t recognize as a threat. And with new threats emerging all the time, at high volume, firewalls must be constantly updated and actively managed. Otherwise, they’re powerless against the newest (and often the most common) attacks.
Major corporations have the time, tools, and sizable security teams to keep up with firewall management. Small and midsize companies often don’t. As a result, firewall settings are weeks or months out of date, leaving a massive gap in cybersecurity. For too many companies, weak firewalls are the only option.
Where Firewall Management Fits Into the Equation
Rather than depending on the limited resources of in-house teams to keep firewalls updated and tuned, you can outsource this responsibility to a service provider. They have the experience, expertise, and staff to keep up with all the demands of firewall management. They also have access to superior threat intelligence so that your firewalls know how to recognize the largest number of threats.
Firewall management service providers will not just update these devices but maximize their defensive capabilities. What’s more, they will take an exhaustive and ongoing responsibility off the shoulders of the security team.
That’s why firewall management may be the single best cybersecurity investment a company can make: it serves every objective. Companies gain a secure and scalable security solution that stops the vast majority of attacks before they cause any ill effects. At the same time, the security team immediately has more time and resources to focus on other defenses. With the right provider as a partner, the return from firewall management far exceeds the cost. Even better, the return extends beyond security.
The Broader Benefits of Firewall Management
Firewall management solves some of the great challenges of cybersecurity. And in doing so, it solves another challenge many companies contend with: compliance.
If you operate in a sensitive industry such as manufacturing, healthcare, or finance, you’re required to maintain a strong security posture. Those requirements come from state, local, and international regulations. They also increasingly come from contractual requirements stipulated by clients. These requirements significantly raise the stakes for cybersecurity because they mean that attacks, in addition to the damage they cause to IT, might also trigger compliance violations, breach of contract, and irreparable business relationships. The consequences are massive.
Firewall management helps reduce that risk in two ways. First, by satisfying the requirement included in many compliance frameworks to have strong firewall protections in place. A service provider can not only put those protections in place but do so in a way that strictly conforms to compliance requirements, thereby keeping you on the right side of the rules. Second, firewall management makes successful attacks and the compliance violations that would follow far less likely by putting strong network security in place.
Firewall management isn’t a complete solution for cyber compliance – it’s one requirement of many. But in the same way that firewall management makes an outsize impact on cybersecurity, it has an equal impact on compliance. For companies whose businesses depends on staying secure, firewall management gives confidence the proper pieces are in place.
CorpInfoTech – Firewall Management for the Midmarket
Impactful as firewall management can be, the results depends heavily on the provider behind the service. How actively they manage firewalls, how much threat intelligence they incorporate, and how informed they are about evolving compliance requirements can all vary widely.
CorpInfoTech offers a firewall management serviced designed to make world-class defensive capabilities both accessible and affordable for small and midsized companies. To learn more about how our service fits into a secure and compliant security posture that takes the risk out of cybersecurity, consult our free whitepaper. To explore how firewall management fits your own security and compliance goals, contact us.
Learn more: CorpInfoTech’s Managed Firewall whitepaper
CorpInfoTech (Corporate Information Technologies) provides small to mid-market organizations with expert I.T. services including compliance assessment, cybersecurity penetration tests, and comprehensive business continuity planning services. CorpInfoTech can help organizations, quantify, create, refine, and mitigate the risks presented by business threatening disasters in whatever form they may be disguised.
Blog/image source: Magnetude Marketing
Comments are closed