Do you know why your mobile carrier constantly pushes update notifications to your phone? To ensure you receive vital security patches to keep your device secure. You should do the same thing when it comes to updating your company firewall. It is one of the most important lines of defenses for your security.
Why Are Firewall Updates So Important?
Hackers constantly evolve their methods of attack against your network firewall. You literally cannot afford to leave your systems vulnerable by only updating once or twice a year. The cost of a security breach can easily surpass the spend on an investment in more frequent firewall updates.
Reasons for Switching to Automation
Many companies still perform manual firewall updates. That leaves the door open to human error. It is also impossible for even the best security expert to track, monitor, and patch every network threat by hand. We are talking about your company website, the servers supporting your processes, everything your company relies on to be available to your clients and customers.
Here is how you benefit by switching over to an automated process for your firewall updates.
1. Better Network Management and Connectivity
Many firewall automation solutions provide network managers with access to a centralized console. From there, they can configure automatic configuration backups, synchronize updates to multiple systems, and remotely access applications as needed.
2. 360-degree View of Bug Fixes
One of the biggest headaches around security updates is tracking all necessary bug fixes. Automation removes a lot of the burden from your security personnel tasked with keeping up with necessary patches for website security, operating systems, and other business tools.
3. Control Traffic Flow
Good firewall automation configuration allows your security groups the finite control needed over different aspects of network traffic, including which user profiles have access to specific system resources. They can keep unwanted traffic away from sensitive information, like card data governed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standard (PCI DSS).
Important Components of Firewall Testing
While automating your firewall updates makes it easier to protect network traffic, don’t look at it as a magic fix. Before settling on a solution, make sure it allows you to test and address essential components of your company firewall defenses.
- How the firewall records and blocks the flow specific types of traffic
- How the firewall functions when handling a full load
- How the firewall functions in an operational environment
Here are a few things to keep in mind with firewall updates.
- Consider the institution — Firewalls in a financial institution typically require more frequent updates than other because of the value of the information they hold from consumers.
- Data center protection — Firewalls tasked with protect a data center will probably need daily testing to keep it safe.
- Track changes carefully — Trying to do too many updates at once can lead to confusion in a fluid environment. Schedule them in batches of importance to make it easier to track a successful implementation.
Automation gives you the opportunity to quickly perform necessary firewall updates for your company. Contact our experts today for recommendations on a quality firewall automation solution for your business.