Firewalls have long been seen as a critical tool in the battle against cybercrime. However, as businesses transition to a new model in which all employees, particularly crucial ones, work remotely, the necessity for a sturdy and dependable firewall has never been stronger than it is now.
Why do you need a firewall?
Firewalls are an essential component of every business’s security system. However, as firms have been compelled to implement unconditional remote work practices, firewalls have grown in importance as security guards discriminate between legitimate business traffic and suspicious access requests.
A firewall is essential for a corporation to monitor and secure data access on its network. You may use a strong firewall to prevent unwanted access to your computers and network, as well as to protect yourself from viruses and malware and to avoid particular data breaches and thefts.
As a corporation, you want your firewall to not only keep undesirable traffic out of your network, but also monitor the connections of devices on your network and regulate what they may transmit to the outside. Even with the best intentions, your staff can’t know if their devices are appropriately protected. Without the proper security technologies in place, any smart person connected to the internet may enter any computer on your network, with the capacity to download or destroy files, with potentially disastrous implications for your organization.
Why do you need to check your firewall?
As more of your staff work from home, the security of your network may either assist or hurt your organization during this challenging period for many businesses. Your firewall, like anything else on your network, is essentially software running on a computer-it has an operating system with millions of lines of code and, like any other software on your network, it must be updated in order to function properly.
The firewall must be checked on a regular basis if your network and its data are to be adequately protected.
Hackers now specifically target firms that are less prepared for an assault. Companies had to adjust fast in the context of working from home, which fraudsters exploited by exploiting weaknesses caused by a lack of prior training. Many IT administrators must juggle many security technologies. Even those who have put in place effective security mechanisms can not afford to overlook the rising activity of hackers. So, whether you have a local firewall, a hosted virtual firewall, or a dedicated hosted firewall, now is the time to ensure that it fully protects you.
How to improve your firewall
One of the most essential things you can do to guarantee network security is to ensure that all network users understand the protocols and their purpose. Your users are more likely to adhere to the adopted procedures if they first understand their goal. So explain it to them and make it as simple as possible for them to gain the access they want, when they want it.
Here are some further measures you may take:
Make a vulnerability analysis. There are several free open-source programs available to check your network for vulnerabilities. A competent vulnerability assessment will expose components of your firewall settings, as well as obsolete software issues, default passwords, susceptible hardware and software identification, and any unwanted admin access to network devices.
Audit your network. Wireless connections are critical at the correct moment-in fact, you can’t do business without them. However, it is critical to have a comprehensive picture of all wireless access points in your network in order to identify corrupt or “dead” ones. If possible, place an access point outside your perimeter firewalls and provide users with VPN access to it.
Segregate your network. Any intrusion into your network will be disastrous if it is followed by unrestricted access within it. As a result, it is critical to see the network as “units” and insure each unit separately. Consider how and by whom your network is used, then compartmentalize and defend it using virtual perimeters so that if a hacker gains access via a marketing employee’s laptop, he can not subsequently enter the HR portion of the network.
Stop unused services. A major company’s network may have four or five servers that provide email services, but it might have up to 80 servers linked to the SMTP port. The more servers you use for each service, the more chances hackers have of gaining access. Examine your network to discover what it’s used for and what it’s for, and disable any superfluous services. Stop the file sharing protocols if you have a server that operates as a Windows file server but has never been utilized for that purpose.
It implements perimeters for partner networks. You will never be able to manage your partners’ security rules, procedures, and protocols, and they will always represent a danger to your internal security. Creating a “demilitarized zone” or perimeter network for each of your partners gives you some control over what they can access.
Protect your firewall admin. Allowing access to the firewall admin interface through the Internet is one of the most prevalent configuration errors for a company’s firewall, putting it exposed to invasions. Access to the firewall admin should ideally be restricted to its internal interface. It is preferable to have remote admin access over VPN.