There’s no doubt that on-premise network security is important, but our modern era comes with a growing focus on hybrid and cloud environments as well. Network firewall security in this day and age considers far more than just on-prem demands. From data centers to remote endpoints, and more SaaS apps than you can count, it’s a lot to safeguard.
While modern firewalls have come a long way in protecting business networks, many organizations still end up with gaps in their security stack. Some of the most prevalent and expanding cyber risks include remote workforces, personal devices, and cloud workloads.
Even the smallest oversight here can lead to a fragmented network, which can come with some pretty heavy consequences. This article focuses on the five gaps in network firewall security that businesses tend to overlook.
Top 5 Overlooked Network Firewall Security Best Practices
It’s true that modern firewalls come with some impressive capabilities, but proper network firewall security considers more than that. If you don’t understand the many layers involved in effective network security, there’s a good chance you’ll miss some important details.
Several angles that many businesses overlook include:
- Security policies
- Hardware misconfigurations
- Insufficient monitoring
- Compliance requirements
- Lack of network segmentation
Not only are these essential to secure networks, but they also open up vulnerabilities that can lead to compounding data threats. On the other hand, covering more than just the basics equips IT and cyber security teams with the oversight and information they need to be proactive. While the list of potential security gaps can be staggering, the sections below focus on some of the most commonly overlooked.
1. Misconfigured or Outdated Firewall Policies
Misconfigurations and outdated policies with firewalls are easy to miss for a lot of companies. This is especially true for those working with legacy rules, as many continue on with the if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it mentality.
One of the best ways to make sure this doesn’t get missed is through regular audits and strict policy versioning. Another important detail to this is that multi-cloud networks and hybrid environments can come with increased risk here. Whether it’s rule duplication or inconsistent enforcement across the network, you’ll have a hard time keeping configurations and policies up to date without regular auditing.
2. Blind Spots in Lateral Movement
A big part of today’s network security best practices includes an understanding of lateral movement. It’s common for today’s cybersecurity threats to take advantage of lateral movement inside the network.
This is where micro-segmentation can be a lot of help, as this limits the chance for lateral movement. With strict network access controls and proactive monitoring, it’ll be harder for threats to move laterally across the network and connected devices or applications.
3. Inadequate SSL/TLS Inspection
Without proper SSL/TLS inspection in place, you end up creating blind spots for potential threats. Proper inspection of SSL/TLS traffic is a part of identifying risks like malware and data exfiltration, to name a few.
The hardware you want to look for from network security providers includes firewalls that come with TLS decryption. This is where you’ll get full inspection without degrading performance or leaving a gap in your security stack.
4. Limited Visibility Into Remote and Hybrid Devices
As time goes on, hybrid and fully remote workforces are going to become more and more common. The benefits here are pretty obvious, but many businesses don’t consider the network blind spots that are created in the process.
From home networks to personal devices and unsecured Wi-Fi, this creates many new openings for cybersecurity threats. Without the right security measures in place, your business is going to face a lot of limited endpoint visibility. However, utilizing endpoint protection, micro-segmentation, and practices like Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), you can do well to cover every connection on the network.
5. Overreliance on Legacy or Single-Vendor Point Solutions
Nowadays, it should be evident that legacy firewall solutions lack the modern threat protection that companies truly need. The same can be said about cloud visibility and automated defenses, as these are common traits with more modern firewall solutions.
On the other hand, limited or no support for IoT device recovery or dynamic segmentation isn’t going to fly. Between expanding workforce dynamics and more creative threats, businesses can’t ignore these cyber security requirements.
How Companies Can Close These Network Firewall Security Gaps
Thankfully, with the help of network security providers alongside reliable best practices, businesses can easily close these known gaps. While each business’s network firewall security stack is bound to vary, there are some tips and tricks that are universal.
Here are a few ways you can minimize vulnerabilities in your network:
- Conduct quarterly firewall rule audits to tackle outdated, redundant, or overly permissive policies
- Implement segmentation across the board, as well as IoT-aware micro-segmentation strategies
- Integrate SSL/TLS inspection with a focus on performance-optimized and hardware-accelerated firewalls
- Choose modern firewall solutions that include automated detection, correlation, and incident response
- Use identity-based access and ZTNA to secure remote and hybrid workers consistently
It can definitely seem like a lot of upgrades to focus on, but it’s more about looking at them as essentials rather than suggestions. Considering the sizable damage cyber threats are known for, businesses should always do their best to minimize potential security gaps.
The Final Word
It’s important for today’s business networks to span on-prem, cloud, SaaS, as well as remote environments. Considering the gaps mentioned above, a lot of these are still relevant due to the rapidly evolving infrastructure of network security as a whole.
The scope of effective firewall security includes many layers. Angles like identity-based access, micro-segmentation, cloud-native visibility, and full encrypted traffic inspections are crucial focal points.
For those looking to audit and close the potential gaps in their network security stack, working with us at Firewalls.com can help. Get in touch with our team to learn about the hardware and surrounding security solutions your business needs to stay protected moving forward.
FAQ
What are the Most Common Firewall Security Gaps Businesses Overlook?
Security gaps businesses tend to overlook include misconfigured policies, weak SSL inspection, lack of segmentation, remote-device blind spots, and overreliance on legacy tools.
Why is SSL/TLS Inspection Important for Modern Networks?
SSL/TLS inspections are important for modern networks because most malicious traffic is now encrypted. Firewalls without SSL/TLS inspection leave a gap for cybersecurity threats to pass through undetected.
How Does Lateral Movement Increase Cybersecurity Risk?
Once attackers gain access to a device or the network, they can move between systems, especially if segmentation and monitoring aren’t being utilized.
What Security Challenges Do Remote Workers Introduce?
Home networks, personal devices, and split-tunneling issues create unmanaged traffic paths that can end up bypassing corporate firewalls. It can also lead to reduced visibility, which can become a compounding issue if left unchecked.
How Can Companies Strengthen Their Overall Firewall Security Posture?
Companies can strengthen their firewall security posture in several ways, from regular network audits, ZTNA, SSL inspection, segmentation, automation, and integrated threat response tools.
