A firewall acts as the first line of defence in network security. It is an important part of an organization’s overall cyber security strategy. Firewalls require maintenance, management, and monitoring to remain effective. Managed firewalls services help you to achieve this. A managed firewall is a service that ensures:

• The firewall has clear and well-maintained rules, which can also be modified when required. 
• Any updates or policy changes are managed and applied immediately. 
• Monitoring happens proactively, including regular reports, analysis, and feedback regarding network traffic patterns. 

Firewalls require a specific skill set to administer, install and maintain as they have multiple file updates to protect systems from threats. 

Benefits of a managed firewall –

• Managed firewalls services give you real-time assurance that your firewalls are healthy and protect the environment from threats to network security. 
• If your organization isn’t IT-based and doesn’t have time and expertise to maintain and update your firewalls, managed firewall services can be the right resource. 
• Managed firewalls can notify someone possessing the right skills about threats and let them respond immediately. A well-managed firewall can even block new threats before updates become available for the threats. 
• It helps you to focus on the core aspects of your organization without worrying about cybersecurity. 

How to know if your business needs a managed firewall? 

1.    Multiple firewalls

If your organization has multiple firewalls that demand regular maintenance, management, and monitoring, then using managed firewall services might be the right choice for you. 

2.    Lack of skills

Firewalls are getting more complex and require niche skills to update and maintain. 

3.    Leverage new capabilities

Firewalls are ever-evolving. New features need to be enabled and configured. A managed firewall activates such features as per business needs. 

4.    Meeting compliance

A lot of industries have a strict compliance policy regarding data, security, and infrastructure management. Managed firewall services made sure that firewall rules were aligned to the compliance requirements. 

To get the right managed firewall service provider, you must –

1.    Review their policies –

Documentation and organization of processes and procedures provided by the managed firewall reflect their authenticity. If policies are not clear or inconsistent, it is likely that their services are also unreliable. 

2.    Inspect the technical team –

Managed firewall services require a dedicated and competent team to manage. The technical team of your service provider should regularly review their technology standards. Technology security threats are evolving, and hence the security should evolve at the same pace. A good technical team ensures that. 

3.    Set a certain standard –

A good service provider should have a set standard and a training program to support the staff and deliver their promises. 

4.    Find means to trust –

Testimonials can speak a lot about the services of your service provider. The relationship between a managed firewall service provider and your organization works if you try to build and sustain the relationship. 

Top questions to ask a managed firewall expert –

1.    What are you going to do to my organization?

The right managed firewall expert will look at the weak spots in your firewall and ensure that there is holistic protection for their clients. They must be in a position to implement security changes if required. 

2.    Do you have the required expertise? 

A lot of managed firewall experts have an area of focus on one or two technologies. This level of the specification makes sure that they have the right level of training, education, and capabilities to manage the firewalls.

3.    Do you have the capability? 

The expert should have the capability to handle and manage clients at every level. The team must be trained and be professionally qualified to support an organization. 

4.    What are you going to change to make my life easier? 

Any change recommended by a managed firewall expert is either because existing systems are not doing their job and need replacement or because the expert cannot support existing systems as they do not have experience with the particular technology. The organization must decide its investment accordingly. 

Thus, there are a lot of benefits from hiring a managed firewall expert. Enhancing network protection, meeting compliance, monitoring, reporting security threats, and improving response time to any activity on the firewall that demands immediate attention are some of the benefits. As there are many managed firewall experts, to get the right fit for your organization, you must keep in mind some points. Checking on the technological expertise of your service provider, the consistency in the policies, and the soundness of the technical team are essential. Once you find the perfect managed firewall expert, you can focus on your organization’s core operations without worrying about network security threats.