Industry Insights with Eleanor Barlow

Security Operations

X5 Firewall Practices to Prevent a Data Breach

How to Get the Most Out of Firewall Management Processes
X5 Firewall Practices to Prevent a Data Breach

It is no longer a question of if, but when.

There are around 2,200 cyberattacks per day on average, according to a Norton blog. And in just the first half of 2022, there were well over 236.1 million documented ransomware attacks, Statista claims. This statistic does not include the multitude of other forms of attacks that plague businesses daily.

For the fortunate few who have yet to experience an attack, it is only a matter of time. Most organizations are unaware when a breach is made, and it is only when it is too late, when data has been stolen or accounts are inaccessible, that actions can be put in place. Threats can lie dormant in a network, ready to pounce at the opportune moment. But why are these vulnerabilities not spotted before it is too late? And why are threats going undetected for months at a time?

The answer to this is a global lack of visibility, especially when it concerns endpoints. As part of your Managed Detection and Response strategy, make sure that the right tools are in place to ensure accurate and actionable visibility of what is happening on the network, so that you are able to prioritize and act on alerts. Otherwise, businesses act on the wrong issues, leaving time for threats to continue their attack, and cost businesses more in the long run.

What Is Firewall Management and How Can It Be Used to Enhance Cyber Resiliency?

Managed Firewall is your first line of defense against malicious and anomalous activity. It is a crucial element that keeps out dangers; controls and monitors activity; and accepts, rejects and drops access. It is important to enforce strict control on your firewalls, while allowing flexibility to be dynamic in executing your business requirements.

Next-Generation Firewalls - NGFWs - are the latest in digital protection, helping to merge the best parts of traditional and more modern technology. NGFWs are an essential part of a broader cybersecurity strategy. They serve as a first line of defense to external threats, malware, and hackers trying to gain access to your data and systems. In addition to the standard perimeter/external firewall, many companies are starting to install internal firewalls to provide an additional layer of protection.

NGFWs deliver security but also can give you a marketable competitive advantage over your competitors that are behind the security curve. In the context of firewalls, they are complex beasts combining several security modules. They require skilled expertise, an understanding of both networking and security, and a deep understanding of the actual tool itself to get the best out of it.

Read this white paper for more information on next-generation firewalls.

Top X5 Firewall Practices Recommendations

SecurityHQ recommends enforcing the following policies to get the most out of firewall management processes.

  1. Enforce proper segmentation of critical segments, including backup servers.
  2. Enforce internet access protection, including URL filtering, HTTPS inspection, and antivirus.
  3. Enforce user-based and application control policies to provide the principle of least privileges.
  4. Ensure threat prevention functionality configuration on IPS and threat prevention/extraction technology, including ransomware protection.
  5. Ensure threat intelligence service from firewall vendor subscription to get the latest information and protection about the threats, including ransomware.

As a global MSSP, having conducted incident response investigations across a wide range of industries, SecurityHQ is best placed to work with businesses large and small, and across numerous technical environments to reduce the impact of a cybersecurity incident. For more information on firewall management, speak to an expert here. Or if you suspect a security incident, you can report an incident here.



About the Author

Eleanor Barlow

Eleanor Barlow

Head Content Strategist, SecurityHQ

Eleanor Barlow is an experienced named author who specializes in researching and reporting on the latest in cybersecurity intelligence and security insights. As the Head Content Strategist, she’s responsible for SecurityHQ’s content strategy. This includes generating content for the latest articles, press releases, white papers, case studies, website copy, social accounts, newsletters, threat intelligence and more. Barlow has strong experience writing in B2B environments as well as for wider technology-based research projects.




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