Each and every business is relying on the online world for most of their interactions and exchanges, be they internal or external. Especially today in the wake of the pandemic, when companies are quickly adapting their work to fit a remote model and they are sending their employees to work safely from home, the online realm has become the safe haven in the midst of this health crisis. How safe it truly is will heavily depend on your cybersecurity practices and precautions.
Among those security measures, a powerful firewall solution is somewhat of a security staple, a necessity rather than an option. As a business with a reputation to uphold, data to protect, and employees to empower through tech, your firewall is one of your greatest assets in preventing security threats, breaches, and data loss.
Here are a few key roles your firewall plays in your overall business cybersecurity strategy, and hopefully, they’ll inspire you to keep your preventative measures under even stricter control.
Preventing cyber-attacks
Any cybersecurity system should contain a few key pieces, but a firewall in the form of software as well as hardware should certainly be a part of that system. Why? Because its primary purpose is to serve as the mainline of defense for your data and all of your different accounts. If you’re like any other business entity out there, you’re likely using a slew of digital tools that require an account, be it your CMS, project management tools, email provider, etc.
Firewalls prevent any cybercriminal from installing malicious software such as malware or ransomware on your systems and they prevent people from accessing the most sensitive data you have. Of course, encryption and other preventative measures help, but firewalls recognize and prevent malicious attacks as well as malicious code such as worms and viruses.
Ensuring safe online behavior internally
Firewalls also serve as monitoring entities to keep a watchful eye over your entire organization, but only when configured and handled properly. Unlike traditional, incremental protection, most modern-day businesses require an overarching cybersecurity system built with the help of that key component: your firewall. So, instead of merely looking at your inbound traffic and potential threats coming from the outside, implementing enterprise firewall protection for your business also means monitoring your outbound traffic.
That means that you can also use your firewall to monitor your employees and their online behavior to prevent not just procrastination and visiting private social media accounts, but also to prevent them from visiting unauthorized websites that could be sources of malware.
Keeping your data safe and secure
Comprehensive firewall solutions have a strong focus on keeping your data safely stored and protected across a variety of platforms. Whether you store them on the cloud, share them via email, and collaborate via project management tools, a firewall serves as the primary protection for all of your sensitive information.
Since cyber-attacks are growing more complex every day, and hackers are implementing smarter methods in an attempt to penetrate your security systems, your firewalls truly need to be a worthy opponent in such scenarios in order to prevent data loss and retain data integrity.
Providing compliance for your business
As a business entity that regularly collects customer data through their online behavior and digital footprint (such as their subscription forms or simply their search preferences and the like), you are required by law to ensure the security of that information. Your privacy policy aside, you need to make sure that your security is up to par with the latest government standards and your particular industry.
For those working in law and finance, for example, sensitive data can cost people their entire savings or perhaps their most private information such as their home address, phone numbers, and the like. Your firewall enables the right level of compliance for your business, provided that you update your software regularly and ensure the right hardware protection, too.
Recognizing threats and spotting patterns
In case you are not an IT expert to begin with, as many business owners are across a variety of industries, then perhaps a firewall from your point of view is most likely a passive, background entity that prevents cybercrime from damaging your business. To an extent, that is true, but it’s far from passive and it’s far from limited to just preventing cyber-attacks. In fact, with the right managed service up your sleeve, you can adapt your firewall to send all kinds of specific alerts or keep an eye on specific kinds of data threats.
For example, your firewall can be configured in such a way that you receive a report showing you details of the previous cyber threats and attempted breaches. It will not just prevent them, but it will collect important data such as the potential source of the breach, and help you identify the weakest possible features of your system to prevent further security threats and boost your cybersecurity strategy as a whole.
Parting Shot
Cybersecurity is an issue that’s becoming more relevant for companies of all sizes, since hackers don’t shy away from attempting to penetrate any system, be it large or small. With that in mind, even if you run a small business and feel that you’re not so competitive to be appealing to a hacker – think again, because small businesses are becoming increasingly threatened by cyber-attacks.
A firewall may be a piece of the cybersecurity puzzle, but it’s a pivotal one nonetheless. Make sure that your firewall is powerful, well-managed, and always updated properly to keep your data and your interactions safe.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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