A Managed Firewall provides protection for devices at the perimeter (local in your home or office) and/or even on your cloud network. These devices are also commonly referred to as endpoints. Most firewalls installed by your ISP or a junior technician are static or “dumb” firewalls. They provide no real time monitoring or updating as needed to anticipate the latest “in the wild” threats. They are simply configured with some local rules and then left to become outdated as soon as they are installed. Furthermore power outages and field maintenance from your cable company or internet provider often “wipe” or “reset” the firewall with no warning to you leaving you unprotected.
A “Managed Firewall” is regularly monitored, patched and maintained. Firewalls are not a point-and-click or set-it-and-forget-it technology. Like most edge devices these days, firewalls are typically installed “on-site” , however the latest trend is to use configured in the “cloud” and managed via “Remote Support” managed Firewalls.
Managed Firewall Schema
Managed Firewalls” allow live security definitions to be updated which help protect against constantly changing threats. Rules can be set in place to block certain websites and social network activity. Cloud Firewalls are virtual firewalls with all communications run through the cloud security provider.
Managed firewalls typically provide for VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) configurations which keep segments of the LAN separate from the rest of the network. For example security cameras and iOT devices are more easily hacked and there is no need for most employees to have access or even know these devices exist. So they are segregated into their own VLAN. VLAN’s can also be used to segment departments / business units like accounting, engineering, staff etc, as separate networks altogether.
Make a Virtual Managed Firewall your first line of defense.
SBCS recommends supports several perimeter and cloud manged firewall systems including Cisco umbrella, SonicWall, Untangle, Uplevel, O365 (yes, O365 has Cloud firewall capability.)
Protect your Office, Cloud and Remote Workers with a Virtual Firewall like the low Cost High Functioning Untangle. – See Untangle Fire Wall Data Sheet.
Drawing the line that separates internal and external networks, Firewall filters traffic based on IP address, protocol and port, which enables administrators to designate which systems and services (HTTP, FTP, etc.) are publicly available.
Firewall can be run as a transparent bridge to complement a pre-existing firewall and allows you to control inbound and/or outbound access to specific IPs and ports.
Firewalls are a key component in safeguarding your business from malicious threats. Managed firewalls protect not only your “edge” devices, but your “cloud” perimeter “SaaS” and “Storage” areas.
Contact Us if you would like help getting a Managed Fire Wall to protect your network.
