What Are The Best Practices For Implementing Firewalls?

Firewalls are essential to network protection tools that must be powerful to the highest possible level. The implementation of a network firewall is a highly demanding job. The administrators need to maintain the perfect symmetry between safety and performance quality for the end users. So, firewall configuration is also a crucial job for IT help desk outsourcing companies that ascertain their reliability for client’s network security.

Network firewalls protect your data and devices from both external menaces and malware. So, administrators should configure the firewall in a way that can protect your network in all conditions. Further, the prospective security threats should also be in consideration while configuring your network firewall. It will ensure the safety of your network from both existing and future menaces.

This article presents a set of firewall implementation best practices that can save your network from existing or probable threats. Let’s go through it.

Firewalls are fantastic network security tools for all types of businesses. You can read Introduction to Firewalls and Four Best Practices for Implementation to get an in-depth idea. However, to obtain the best benefits from network firewalls, you need to consider some techniques. We have discussed them below.

It is an ideal security measure to block all traffic to your network automatically. You can Permit only explicit traffic to some particular known services. It will help you control access to your network and prevent the occurrence of any security violations.

The firewall is the first stage of your network security against known and unknown threats. So, you should not approve permission for everyone to change the configuration. User access control must assure that only approved supervisors have access to make changes in firewall configurations.

Besides, each time an authorized executive makes configuration changes, it must be documented in the log for review and observation. Thus, any unnecessary changes in the configuration can immediately be noticed, and restoration may be executed in such circumstances.

Again, you can create respective user accounts allowing different grades of access to the IT team. This way you can provide only as much access as needed for a job to a particular staff. Apart from this, you should monitor the firewall logs regularly. It will ensure no unauthorized access to the firewall setup from inside or outside your network remains unnoticed.

The network firewalls need updating from time to time for different causes. It is crucial to confirm that the firewall stays powerful as before and is competent to protect your network from new threats. So, there must be a change management strategy that will smoothen and secure the process.

An unplanned change in your firewall configuration may create loopholes in your network’s security system. On the other hand, a well-planned firewall change management will make your security system more robust that should follow some fundamental features:

• The plan must define the objectives of change management to ensure that the administrator conducts only the required changes.
• It should review and document the risk factors related to the policy changes. Similarly, It is crucial to assume the impact of these risks on your network, and develop a mitigation plan to reduce the threats.
• A well-defined change management plan can ensure controlled workflow between different network teams.

Further, a proper audit keeps a record of the reason for the change along with the change time and the staff who conducts the change.

There must be well-defined rules in your firewall security management. It will ensure proper network protection as per your need and expectation. Moreover,
cleaning up any unneeded jumble in your firewall can have a positive result on your network security.

Your firewall rule base may contain unnecessary components, duplicates, or excessive unneeded rules. This clutter makes the systems complicated and less productive. So, it is crucial to remove such futile rules and implement an explicit batch of guidelines that can deliver better results.

To keep your firewall rule base clean and updated, consider the below factors:
Unnecessary or duplicate rules can make your firewall do the additional process. It slows down the performance of the system, and it is ideal to eliminate such needless rules.

Remove the outdated rules that are no longer in service. These useless rules make your firewall administration more complicated and sometimes can become a threat to the security of the network.

Unneeded rules can create confusion with other crucial rules, and firewall managers can skip following those useful rules. It may result in errors and malfunctions in your firewall, so delete those shady rules in time.

Firewall service providers provide regular software updates. These updates come with improved features to prevent new probable safety threats. It is crucial to keep your firewall software updated to ensure not only your network’s security but also to detect any loopholes in the system. So, you must review from time to time to ensure your firewall software is running with the latest version.

A safety review of your network is essential to confirm that your firewall restrictions follow the corporate and exterior safety rules. Any unauthorized changes in the firewall configuration are a breach of policy that can result in non-compliance. Administrators and the IT security team need to conduct a regular security review to assure there are no unauthorized modifications in the system.

These systematic measures will help you stay updated on the critical changes done to the firewall. It will also be aware of any possible risks caused due to these modifications. Safety reviews are most crucial at the time of new firewall installation, migration, or huge changes in the configuration.

Enhanced technologies have made IT processes fast and effortless. At the same time, your firewall administrators may not regularly review and update the firewall software. It may result in a security breach leaving your network at risk.

You can automate the updation process of your firewall to avoid such situations. An automated process can check if there is any update available in the system and execute the same as per the schedule. This process brings efficiency to your security management process. Further, it will reduce the IT service desk pricing as you will need less human mediation.

Firewalls save your network from both external and internal security threats. However, to avail the best benefit of your firewall system, you need to understand the best practices of firewall configuration. This article has presented techniques for implementing a firewall. Hopefully, it will help you network from all kinds of security threats.