Considering that it is a significant driver of innovation and growth in technology, cloud computing is shaping the future of the business. It provides improved scalability and allows you to expand your business beyond the confines of hardware and storage. As of 2022, 94% of American enterprises use cloud services. Installing a VPN is not enough to monitor and filter out the incoming and outgoing network traffic in your cloud network.
This is why security professionals are now shifting towards secure and much more scalable Cloud Firewall (CF) solutions. It simplifies the IT infrastructure and provides next-generation firewall (NGFW) capabilities. Firewall as a service is changing the game, considering that it is built while keeping the Zero Trust security model in consideration. It eliminates trust as a whole and is based on The Principle of Least Privilege.
Evolution of Firewalls
Firewalls initially started in 1989 as packet filters to examine the data exchanged between the network. The basic working principle of firewalls is that only the networks and devices with proper permissions and authorized access are allowed into the access points.
In earlier days, the scope of the threat was limited to corporate offices. The IT teams only needed to secure the installation site, and a traditional firewall was adequate to provide network security.
With the passage of time, firewalls have evolved, considering the cybersecurity needs of the IT frameworks. Today, most businesses use cloud services such as SaaS with endpoints everywhere.
This has created new threats and dangers and caused NGFWs to become less effective. It was only effective if the endpoints were located in corporate or regional offices. Firewalls are now available as advanced ML-Powered Next-Generation Firewall and Firewall as a service (FWaaS).
Firewall As a Service and Cloud Security
While NGFWs can block malware and better counter advanced persistent threats (APTs), they were never designed to manage cloud security. As the name suggests, the security services in Firewall as a service (FWaaS) are delivered via the cloud. It is a network security technology capable of providing advanced access controls, threat prevention, and URL filtering technology.
Furthermore, this technology has a built-in intrusion prevention system (IPS) and DNS security system. Considering that Cloud Firewall (CF) management is centralized from a single console, the challenges related to patch management, change control, and policy management is eliminated. It allows organizations to scale security better because distributed sites and users are connected to a single, logical, global firewall.
Just like the traditional firewall, the Cloud Firewall is placed between the internet and your network. It inspects the traffic for potential threats by looking at the network traffic through deep packet inspection (DPI). As soon as it detects anomalous and potentially dangerous behavior, it instantly alerts the threat response team.
Why do Companies Need Firewall As a Service?
The biggest advantage of implementing FWaaS is that organizations can establish secure local breakouts for all applications without buying, deploying, or managing the security appliances. Companies can enjoy a full Layer 7 firewall via a cloud service, which has become more practical and common.
This lets them scale elastically to handle SSL inspection, cloud application traffic with long-lived connections, and growing bandwidth and user demands. Another major benefit of a Firewall as a service is the centralized management from a single console.
This allows the IT professional to deliver identical protections for the users regardless of their location or the device they use to connect to the network. The Cloud Firewall can be customized according to your IT network’s size, configuration, and cybersecurity needs.
A network firewall could be compared to a security guard at a building who checks people’s identities before letting them in and turns them away if they don’t have authorization.
Benefits of Firewall As a Service
When you sign up with a service that provides Firewall As a Service, you won’t have to worry about maintaining the hardware infrastructure that powers your security solution. Depending on your subscription, you decide what types of security features you want access to.
If you want to expand your security in the future, you will not have to worry about provisioning new hardware. You can simply contact your service provider and ask them to add the required feature to your package. The following are the benefits that the Firewall as a Service may provide to the business in the future:
- A cloud-based intrusion prevention system (IPS)
- Enhanced DNS security and control
- Zero trust readiness
- Immediate policy enforcement
- A proxy-based architecture
- Real-time visibility and control
Conclusion
Firewall as a service (FWaaS) improves overall cybersecurity and simplifies the IT infrastructure. It is an attractive option for future companies considering that its flexible and eliminates the need to maintain hardware firewalls. Click here to learn more about implementing a Cloud Firewall (CF) in your workplace.
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