An NGFW is a staple part of any security fabric today because it’s built to protect cloud data and network requests. And let’s face it, that’s where a majority of the applications are hosted today. What it means for your business is, even if you consciously don’t dabble in cloud services, there’s a high probability you have a vendor who does, ultimately putting the responsibility of cloud security on your plate. So, what are the security benefits of Next Gen Firewalls and how can you choose an NGFW wisely?
Read ahead to find out.
Factors to help you choose your NGFW
Blocking only the dangerous traffic
Traditional firewalls work extensively based on a set of rules. Which means even if a data packet or a network request remotely resembles a flagged entity, chances are it may block even valid traffic.
One of the benefits of an NGFW is its ability to flawlessly differentiate between legitimate traffic and illegitimate traffic. Because it is equipped with ‘intelligence’, an NGFW evolves itself, and learns to sift through all traffic to weed out potentially harmful segments from it.
Supports interoperability
The cloud was built for flexibility and scalability. As such, applications are deployed on numerous servers, and served as needed. To provide for redundancy and high-availability, sometimes, Cloud Service Providers will use disparate cloud technologies to serve their customers.
Besides, because multiple applications on varied cloud technologies need to communicate, a lot of traffic is routed between two different cloud servers, without the end-user being made aware of it.
If a firewall is built rigidly for only one set of technologies, it will fail in this scenario to do its job properly.
Here, a Next Gen Firewall saves the day, because it is mostly agnostic to the underlying set of cloud technologies, and can ensure maximum security across a distributed network.
Platform approach
Work machines, home machines, tablets, smartphones, public networks, non-tunnelled access… the list of complications in completely securing an online setup is only increasing.
Securing each and every entity in this equation, that too with different service providers, can cause you headaches that you don’t deserve.
What we need instead is a security platform that allows for broad visibility and control.
One of the major security benefits of next gen firewalls is their ability to secure multiple devices across a network, and keeping you posted on the security posture of each.
An NGFW gives you deeper insight into each of your devices, and allow you to control the security policies for them. Moreover, you can also enforce system-wide policies to strengthen your security fabric, all from an integrated console.
Accounting for human error
In the coming future, it has been predicted that 99% of security breaches will happen due to human negligence / error. Whether that turns out to be true or not, human beings are definitely one of the components in a network.
Therefore, because a security software cannot identify the nature or type of humans which use it, it becomes difficult to achieve maximum security by one-size-fit-all solutions.
An NGFW works beautifully in these situations by allowing interactivity within the security framework. Where other solutions pride on being rigid, an NGFW goes instead for flexibility. It gives you an integrated security framework that you can mould as per your business security needs.
Because you are in total control from the get-go, there are less chances of human errors caused due to inflexibility.
End-to-end security
A business should take into consideration not only the present conditions but also changing trends of the future. There will definitely be a time when organisations will need a mixed on-premise and cloud architecture.
Then (or even now for some businesses), you need to secure both application deployments. Traditional security mechanisms may not cut it.
An NGFW stands out with its ability to provide end-to-end security, whether your data and applications run on-premise or are hosted on the cloud. It weaves its mechanisms right into the security fabric, and provides consistent security.
Why Fortinet NGFWs are a wise choice
These were just 5 of the many security benefits of next gen firewalls. But they were representatives of the features a security service should have to be efficient. Any solution not equipped with these security benefits cannot face up to emerging threats.
For more information on Logix Fortinet Support, please visit – https://logixstaging.learnedstudio.com/fortinet-solutions/
