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Convergence has been claimed. Security orgs merged their teams, aligned their titles, and drew the new boxes on the whiteboard. The... Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Adel Osta Dadan 2 min read Adel Osta Dadan Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 6/17/25 Published Convergence has been claimed. Security orgs merged their teams, aligned their titles, and drew the new boxes on the whiteboard. The result: security teams are now responsible for both cloud and on-premises network environments. But for many of those teams, compliance is still running on fumes. The reporting lines changed. The responsibilities increased. The oversight? Still patchy. The systems? Still fragmented. And the ability to demonstrate consistent policy enforcement across hybrid environments—where compliance lives or dies—has never been more at risk. This isn’t an edge case. It’s structural. And it’s quietly putting every converged team in a bind. The illusion of control If convergence was supposed to simplify compliance, most teams missed the memo. Cloud-native controls don’t sync with on-prem rule sets. Application deployments move faster than the audits tracking them. Policies drift. Risk assessments stall out. And when the next audit comes knocking, security teams are left reconciling evidence after the fact—manually stitching together logs, policies, and screenshots across tools that don’t talk to each other. The result? Ownership without visibility. Policy without context. Responsibility without control. Compliance at the application layer—or nowhere Security and compliance are often treated as parallel tracks. But in hybrid environments, they’re the same problem. The more distributed your network, the more fragmented your enforcement—and the harder it becomes to map controls to real business risk. What matters isn’t whether a port is open. It’s whether the application behind it should be reachable from that region, that VPC, or that user. That requires context. And today, context lives at the application layer. This is where AlgoSec Horizon changes the equation. AlgoSec Horizon is the first platform built to secure application connectivity across hybrid networks—with compliance embedded by design. Horizon: compliance that knows what it’s looking at With Horizon, compliance isn’t an add-on. It’s the outcome of deep visibility and policy awareness at the level that actually matters: the business application. Our customers are using Horizon to: Automatically discover and map every business application—including shadow IT and unapproved flows Simulate rule changes in advance, avoiding deployment errors that compromise compliance Track and enforce policies in context, with real-time validation against compliance frameworks Generate audit-ready reports across hybrid networks without assembling data by hand It’s compliance without the swivel chair. And it’s already helping converged teams move faster—without giving up control. Compliance can’t be an after-thought. Security convergence wasn’t the mistake. Stopping at structure was. When compliance is left behind, the risk isn’t just audit failure—it’s operational drag. Policy friction. Delays in application delivery. Missed SLAs. Because the real impact of compliance gaps isn’t found in the SOC—it’s found in the business outcomes that stall because security couldn’t keep pace. Horizon closes that gap. Because in a world of converged teams and hybrid environments, security has to operate with complete visibility—and compliance has to work at the speed of the application. Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

What is Network Security Monitoring? Network security monitoring is the process of inspecting network traffic and IT infrastructure for... Network Security Top 9 Network Security Monitoring Tools for Identifying Potential Threats Tsippi Dach 2 min read Tsippi Dach Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 2/4/24 Published What is Network Security Monitoring? Network security monitoring is the process of inspecting network traffic and IT infrastructure for signs of security issues. These signs can provide IT teams with valuable information about the organization’s cybersecurity posture. For example, security teams may notice unusual changes being made to access control policies. This may lead to unexpected traffic flows between on-premises systems and unrecognized web applications. This might provide early warning of an active cyberattack, giving security teams enough time to conduct remediation efforts and prevent data loss . Detecting this kind of suspicious activity without the visibility that network security monitoring provides would be very difficult. These tools and policies enhance operational security by enabling network intrusion detection, anomaly detection, and signature-based detection. Full-featured network security monitoring solutions help organizations meet regulatory compliance requirements by maintaining records of network activity and security incidents. This gives analysts valuable data for conducting investigations into security events and connect seemingly unrelated incidents into a coherent timeline. What To Evaluate in a Network Monitoring Software Provider Your network monitoring software provider should offer a comprehensive set of features for collecting, analyzing, and responding to suspicious activity anywhere on your network. It should unify management and control of your organization’s IT assets while providing unlimited visibility into how they interact with one another. Comprehensive alerting and reporting Your network monitoring solution must notify you of security incidents and provide detailed reports describing those incidents in real-time. It should include multiple toolsets for collecting performance metrics, conducting in-depth analysis, and generating compliance reports. Future-proof scalability Consider what kind of network monitoring needs your organization might have several years from now. If your monitoring tool cannot scale to accommodate that growth, you may end up locked into a vendor agreement that doesn’t align with your interests. This is especially true with vendors that prioritize on-premises implementations since you run the risk of paying for equipment and services that you don’t actually use. Cloud-delivered software solutions often perform better in use cases where flexibility is important. Integration with your existing IT infrastructure Your existing security tech stack may include a selection of SIEM platforms, IDS/IPS systems, firewalls , and endpoint security solutions. Your network security monitoring software will need to connect all of these tools and platforms together in order to grant visibility into network traffic flows between them. Misconfigurations and improper integrations can result in dangerous security vulnerabilities. A high-performance vulnerability scanning solution may be able to detect these misconfigurations so you can fix them proactively. Intuitive user experience for security teams and IT admins Complex tools often come with complex management requirements. This can create a production bottleneck when there aren’t enough fully-trained analysts on the IT security team. Monitoring tools designed for ease of use can improve security performance by reducing training costs and allowing team members to access monitoring insights more easily. Highly automated tools can drive even greater performance benefits by reducing the need for manual control altogether. Excellent support and documentation Deploying network security monitoring tools is not always a straightforward task. Most organizations will need to rely on expert support to assist with implementation, troubleshooting, and ongoing maintenance. Some vendors provide better technical support to customers than others, and this difference is often reflected in the price. Some organizations work with managed service providers who can offset some of their support and documentation needs by providing on-demand expertise when needed. Pricing structures that work for you Different vendors have different pricing structures. When comparing network monitoring tools, consider the total cost of ownership including licensing fees, hardware requirements, and any additional costs for support or updates. Certain usage models will fit your organization’s needs better than others, and you’ll have to document them carefully to avoid overpaying. Compliance and reporting capabilities If you plan on meeting compliance requirements for your organization, you will need a network security monitoring tool that can generate the necessary reports and logs to meet these standards. Every set of standards is different, but many reputable vendors offer solutions for meeting specific compliance criteria. Find out if your network security monitoring vendor supports compliance standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, and NIST. A good reputation for customer success Research the reputation and track record of every vendor you could potentially work with. Every vendor will tell you that they are the best – ask for evidence to back up their claims. Vendors with high renewal rates are much more likely to provide you with valuable security technology than lower-priced competitors with a significant amount of customer churn. Pay close attention to reviews and testimonials from independent, trustworthy sources. Compatibility with network infrastructure Your network security monitoring tool must be compatible with the entirety of your network infrastructure. At the most basic level, it must integrate with your hardware fleet of routers, switches, and endpoint devices. If you use devices with non-compatible operating systems, you risk introducing blind spots into your security posture. For the best results, you must enjoy in-depth observability for every hardware and software asset in your network, from the physical layer to the application layer. Regular updates and maintenance Updates are essential to keep security tools effective against evolving threats. Check the update frequency of any monitoring tool you consider implementing and look for the specific security vulnerabilities addressed in those updates. If there is a significant delay between the public announcement of new vulnerabilities and the corresponding security patch, your monitoring tools may be vulnerable during that period of time. 9 Best Network Security Monitoring Providers for Identifying Cybersecurity Threats 1. AlgoSec AlgoSec is a network security policy management solution that helps organizations automate and orchestrate network security policies. It keeps firewall rules , routers, and other security devices configured correctly, ensuring network assets are secured properly. AlgoSec protects organizations from misconfigurations that can lead to malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks, and gives security teams the ability to proactively simulate changes to their IT infrastructure. 2. SolarWinds SolarWinds offers a range of network management and monitoring solutions, including network security monitoring tools that detect changes to security policies and traffic flows. It provides tools for network visibility and helps identify and respond to security incidents. However, SolarWinds can be difficult for some organizations to deploy because customers must purchase additional on-premises hardware. 3. Security Onion Security Onion is an open-source Linux distribution designed for network security monitoring. It integrates multiple monitoring tools like Snort, Suricata, Bro, and others into a single platform, making it easier to set up and manage a comprehensive network security monitoring solution. As an open-source option, it is one of the most cost-effective solutions available on the market, but may require additional development resources to customize effectively for your organization’s needs. 4. ELK Stack Elastic ELK Stack is a combination of three open-source tools: Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana. It’s commonly used for log data and event analysis. You can use it to centralize logs, perform real-time analysis, and create dashboards for network security monitoring. The toolset provides high-quality correlation through large data sets and provides security teams with significant opportunities to improve security and network performance using automation. 5. Cisco Stealthwatch Cisco Stealthwatch is a commercial network traffic analysis and monitoring solution. It uses NetFlow and other data sources to detect and respond to security threats, monitor network behavior, and provide visibility into your network traffic. It’s a highly effective solution for conducting network traffic analysis, allowing security analysts to identify threats that have infiltrated network assets before they get a chance to do serious damage. 6. Wireshark Wireshark is a widely-used open-source packet analyzer that allows you to capture and analyze network traffic in real-time. It can help you identify and troubleshoot network issues and is a valuable tool for security analysts. Unlike other entries on this list, it is not a fully-featured monitoring platform that collects and analyzes data at scale – it focuses on providing deep visibility into specific data flows one at a time. 7. Snort Snort is an open-source intrusion detection system (IDS) and intrusion prevention system (IPS) that can monitor network traffic for signs of suspicious or malicious activity. It’s highly customizable and has a large community of users and contributors. It supports customized rulesets and is easy to use. Snort is widely compatible with other security technologies, allowing users to feed signature updates and add logging capabilities to its basic functionality very easily. However, it’s an older technology that doesn’t natively support some modern features users will expect it to. 8. Suricata Suricata is another open-source IDS/IPS tool that can analyze network traffic for threats. It offers high-performance features and supports rules compatible with Snort, making it a good alternative. Suricata was developed more recently than Snort, which means it supports modern workflow features like multithreading and file extraction. Unlike Snort, Suricata supports application-layer detection rules and can identify traffic on non-standard ports based on the traffic protocol. 9. Zeek (formerly Bro) Zeek is an open-source network analysis framework that focuses on providing detailed insights into network activity. It can help you detect and analyze potential security incidents and is often used alongside other NSM tools. This tool helps security analysts categorize and model network traffic by protocol, making it easier to inspect large volumes of data. Like Suricata, it runs on the application layer and can differentiate between protocols. Essential Network Monitoring Features Traffic Analysis The ability to capture, analyze, and decode network traffic in real-time is a basic functionality all network security monitoring tools should share. Ideally, it should also include support for various network protocols and allow users to categorize traffic based on those categories. Alerts and Notifications Reliable alerts and notifications for suspicious network activity, enabling timely response to security threats. To avoid overwhelming analysts with data and contributing to alert fatigue, these notifications should consolidate data with other tools in your security tech stack. Log Management Your network monitoring tool should contribute to centralized log management through network devices, apps, and security sensors for easy correlation and analysis. This is best achieved by integrating a SIEM platform into your tech stack, but you may not wish to store all of your network’s logs on the SIEM, because of the added expense. Threat Detection Unlike regular network traffic monitoring, network security monitoring focuses on indicators of compromise in network activity. Your tool should utilize a combination of signature-based detection, anomaly detection, and behavioral analysis to identify potential security threats. Incident Response Support Your network monitoring solution should facilitate the investigation of security incidents by providing contextual information, historical data, and forensic capabilities. It may correlate detected security events so that analysts can conduct investigations more rapidly, and improve security outcomes by reducing false positives. Network Visibility Best-in-class network security monitoring tools offer insights into network traffic patterns, device interactions, and potential blind spots to enhance network monitoring and troubleshooting. To do this, they must connect with every asset on the network and successfully observe data transfers between assets. Integration No single security tool can be trusted to do everything on its own. Your network security monitoring platform must integrate with other security solutions, such as firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and SIEM platforms to create a comprehensive security ecosystem. If one tool fails to detect malicious activity, another may succeed. Customization No two organizations are the same. The best network monitoring solutions allow users to customize rules, alerts, and policies to align with specific security requirements and network environments. These customizations help security teams reduce alert fatigue and focus their efforts on the most important data traffic flows on the network. Advanced Features for Identifying Vulnerabilities & Weaknesses Threat Intelligence Integration Threat intelligence feeds enhance threat detection and response capabilities by providing in-depth information about the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by threat actors. These feeds update constantly to reflect the latest information on cybercriminal activities so analysts always have the latest data. Forensic Capabilities Detailed data and forensic tools provide in-depth analysis of security breaches and related incidents, allowing analysts to attribute attacks to hackers and discover the extent of cyberattacks. With retroactive forensics, investigators can include historical network data and look for evidence of compromise in the past. Automated Response Automated responses to security threats can isolate affected devices or modify firewall rules the moment malicious behavior is detected. Automated detection and response workflows must be carefully configured to avoid business disruptions stemming from misconfigured algorithms repeatedly denying legitimate traffic. Application-level Visibility Some network security monitoring tools can identify and classify network traffic by applications and services , enabling granular control and monitoring. This makes it easier for analysts to categorize traffic based on its protocol, which can streamline investigations into attacks that take place on the application layer. Cloud and Virtual Network Support Cloud-enabled organizations need monitoring capabilities that support cloud environments and virtualized networks. Without visibility into these parts of the hybrid network, security vulnerabilities may go unnoticed. Cloud-native network monitoring tools must include data on public and private cloud instances as well as containerized assets. Machine Learning and AI Advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms can improve threat detection accuracy and reduce false positives. These features often work by examining large-scale network traffic data and identifying patterns within the dataset. Different vendors have different AI models and varying levels of competence with emerging AI technology. User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) UEBA platforms monitor asset behaviors to detect insider threats and compromised accounts. This advanced feature allows analysts to assign dynamic risk scores to authenticated users and assets, triggering alerts when their activities deviate too far from their established routine. Threat Hunting Tools Network monitoring tools can provide extra features and workflows for proactive threat hunting and security analysis. These tools may match observed behaviors with known indicators of compromise, or match observed traffic patterns with the tactics, techniques, and procedures of known threat actors. AlgoSec: The Preferred Network Security Monitoring Solution AlgoSec has earned an impressive reputation for its network security policy management capabilities. The platform empowers security analysts and IT administrators to manage and optimize network security policies effectively. It includes comprehensive firewall policy and change management capabilities along with comprehensive solutions for automating application connectivity across the hybrid network. Here are some reasons why IT leaders choose AlgoSec as their preferred network security policy management solution: Policy Optimsization: AlgoSec can analyze firewall rules and network security policies to identify redundant or conflicting rules, helping organizations optimize their security posture and improve rule efficiency. Change Management: It offers tools for tracking and managing changes to firewall and network data policies, ensuring that changes are made in a controlled and compliant manner. Risk Assessment: AlgoSec can assess the potential security risks associated with firewall rule changes before they are implemented, helping organizations make informed decisions. Compliance Reporting: It provides reports and dashboards to assist with compliance audits, making it easier to demonstrate regulatory compliance to regulators. Automation: AlgoSec offers automation capabilities to streamline policy management tasks, reducing the risk of human error and improving operational efficiency. Visibility: It provides visibility into network traffic and policy changes, helping security teams monitor and respond to potential security incidents. Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Learn from expert-crafted firewall ruleset examples and best practices. Optimize your security posture with actionable guidance and improve your firewall configurations. Firewall ruleset examples & policy best practices Securing your network: guide to firewall rules examples Cyberattacks continue to rise globally as malicious actors tirelessly develop sophisticated tools and techniques to break through networks and security systems. With the digitalization of operations today and the increasing adoption of remote working, crucial business activities such as communication, data storage, and data transmission are now primarily done digitally. While this brings numerous advantages – allowing easy usability and scalability, enhancing collaboration, and reducing the risks of data loss – businesses have to deal with various security risks, such as data breaches and cyberattacks from hackers. Organizations must provide adequate network security to keep sensitive data safe and ensure their network is usable, trustworthy, and optimized for maximum productivity across all channels. Schedule a Demo Firewalls and your network Your network and systems (software and hardware) comprise the IT infrastructure through which you operate and manage your enterprise’s IT services. Every IT system regularly receives and transmits internet traffic, and businesses must ensure that only trusted and authorized traffic penetrates their network to maintain security. All unwanted traffic must be prevented from accessing your operating system as it poses a huge risk to network security. Malicious actors attempting to penetrate your system often send virus-carrying inbound traffic to your network. However, with an effective firewall, you can filter all traffic and block unwanted and harmful traffic from penetrating your network. A firewall serves as a barrier between computers, networks, and other systems in your IT landscape, preventing unauthorized traffic from penetrating. Schedule a Demo What are firewall rules? The firewall is your first line of defense in network security against hackers, malware, and other threats. Firewall rules refer to access control mechanisms that stipulate how a firewall device should handle incoming and outgoing traffic in your network. They are instructions given to firewalls to help them know when to block or allow communication in your network. These instructions include destination or source IP addresses, protocols, port numbers, and services. A firewall ruleset is formed from a set of rules and it defines a unit of execution and sharing for the rules. Firewall rulesets typically include: A source address A source port A destination address A destination port A decision on whether to block or permit network traffic meeting those address and port criteria Schedule a Demo What are the most common firewall ruleset examples? There are thousands of rulesets that can be used to control how a firewall deals with network traffic. Some firewall rules are more common than others, as they tend to be fundamental when building a secure network. Here are some examples of firewall rules for common use cases: Enable internet access for only one computer in the local network and block access for all others This rule gives only one computer in the local network access to the internet, and blocks all others from accessing the internet. This example requires obtaining the IP address of the computer being granted access (i.e., source IP address) and the TCP protocol type. Two rules will be created: a Permit rule and a Deny rule. The permit rule allows the chosen computer the required access, while the deny rule blocks all other computers in the local network from internet access. Prevent direct access from the public network to the firewall This rule blocks access to your firewall from any public network, to protect it from hackers who can modify or delete your rules if they access your firewall directly. Once hackers manipulate your rules, unwanted traffic will penetrate your network, leading to data breaches or an interruption in operation. A Deny rule for any attempt to access the firewall from public networks will be created and enabled. Block internet access for only one computer in the local network This rule comes in handy if you do not want a specific computer in the local network to access the internet. You will need to create a Deny rule in which you set the IP address of the computer you wish to block from the internet, and the TCP protocol type. Block access to a specific website from a local network In this scenario we want to configure our firewall to deny access to a particular website from a local network. We first obtain the IP address or addresses of the website we wish to deny access to, and then create a Deny rule. One way to obtain a website’s IP address is by running the special command ‘nslookup ’ in your operating system’s command line (Windows, Linux, or others). Since websites can run on HTTP and HTTPS, we must create a Deny rule for each protocol type and indicate the destination IP address(es). Thus, the local network will be unable to access both the HTTP and HTTPS versions of the website. Allow a particular LAN computer to access only one specific website This example gives a local computer access to only one specified website. We obtain the IP address of the destination website and the source IP address (of the local computer). We create a Permit rule for the source IP address and the destination website, and a Deny rule for the source IP address and other websites, taking the TCP protocol types into account. Allow internet access to and from the local network using specific protocols (services) only This example allows your LAN computer to access the internet using specific protocols, such as SMTP, FTP, IPv6, SSH, IPv4, POP3, DNS, and IMAP; and blocks all other traffic Here we first create an “Allow” rule for the “Home segment,” where we use the value “Any” for the Source and Destination IP addresses. In the Protocol field provided, we choose the protocols through which our local computer can access the internet. Lastly, we create Deny rules where we enter the value “Any” for the Source and Destination IP addresses. In the Protocol field, we set the values TCP and UDP, thus blocking internet access for unspecified protocols. Allow remote control of your router This rule enables you to access, view, or change your Router Settings remotely (over the internet). Typically, access to routers from the internet is blocked by default. To set this rule, you need specific data such as your router username, WAN IP address, and password. It is crucial to note that this setting is unsafe for individuals who use public IP addresses. A similar use case is a rule enabling users to check a device’s availability on their network by allowing ICMP ping requests. Block access from a defined internet subnet or an external network You can set a rule that blocks access to your network from a defined internet subnet or an external network. This rule is especially important if you observed repeated attempts to access your router from unknown IP addresses within the same subnet. In this case, set a Deny rule for IP addresses of the subnet attempting to access your WAN port. Schedule a Demo What are examples of best practices for setting up firewall rules? It is expedient to follow best practices during firewall configuration to protect your network from intruders and hackers. Deploying industry-standard rules when setting up firewalls can improve the security of your network and system components. Below are examples of the best practices for setting up firewall rules. Document firewall rules across multiple devices Documenting all firewall rule configurations and updating them frequently across various devices is one of the best practices for staying ahead of attacks. New rules should be included based on security needs, and irrelevant rules should be deactivated to reduce the possibility of a loophole in your network. With documentation, administrators can review the rules frequently and make any required changes whenever a vulnerability is detected. Configure your firewall to block traffic by default Using a block or deny-by-default policy is the safest way to deal with suspicious traffic. Enterprises must be sure that all types of traffic entering their network are identified and trusted to avoid security threats. In addition, whenever a vulnerability arises in the system, blocking by default helps prevent hackers from taking advantage of loopholes before administrators can respond. Monitor firewall logs Monitoring firewall logs on a regular basis helps maintain network security. Administrators can quickly and easily track traffic flow across your network, identify suspicious activity, and implement effective solutions in a timely manner. Organizations with highly sophisticated infrastructure can aggregate logs from routers, servers, switches, and other components to a centralized platform for monitoring. Group firewall rules to minimize complexity and enhance performance Depending on the complexity of your network, you may need thousands of rules to achieve effective network security. This complicates your firewall rules and can be a huge challenge for administrators. However, by grouping rules based on similar characteristics like protocols, TCP ports, IP addresses, etc., you simplify them and boost overall performance. Implement least-privileged access In any organization, employees have various roles and may require different data to execute their tasks efficiently. As part of network security practices, it’s important to ensure each employee’s access to the network is restricted to the minimum privileges needed to execute their tasks. Only users who require access to a particular service or resource should have it, thus preventing unnecessary exposure of data. This practice significantly minimizes the risk of intentional and accidental unauthorized access to sensitive data. Schedule a Demo How do firewall policies differ from a network security policy? A network security policy outlines the overall rules, principles, and procedures for maintaining security on a computer network. The policy sets out the basic architecture of an organization’s network security environment, including details of how the security policies are implemented. The overall objective of network security policy is to protect a computer network against internal and external threats. Firewall policies are a sub-group of network security policies, and refer to policies that relate specifically to firewalls. Firewall policies have to do with rules for how firewalls should handle inbound and outbound traffic to ensure that malicious actors do not penetrate the network. A firewall policy determines the types of traffic that should flow through your network based on your organization’s network and information security policies. Schedule a Demo How can AlgoSec help with managing your firewall rules? Proper firewall configuration with effective rules and practices is crucial to building a formidable network security policy. Organizations must follow industry standards in configuring firewall rules and protecting their IT landscape from intruders and malicious actors. Firewall rules require regular review and update to maintain maximum protection against evolving threats and changing security demands. For many organizations, keeping up with these fast-paced security demands can be challenging, and that’s where AlgoSec comes in. AlgoSec helps with managing your firewall rules to ensure your network enjoys round-the-clock protection against internal and external security threats. From installation to maintenance, we assist you in setting up a resilient firewall that operates on the safest rulesets to keep your network safe against harmful traffic. We have dedicated tools that take away the burden of aggregating and analyzing logs from the components in your network, including computers, routers, web servers, switches, etc. We determine which new rules are needed for effective firewall network security policy management based on data from your firewall devices and security trends. AlgoSec will ensure your firewall stays compliant with best practices by applying our automated auditing solution, which identifies gaps in your firewall rules and enables you to remediate them before hackers take advantage of such loopholes. Schedule a Demo Select a size Securing your network: guide to firewall rules examples Firewalls and your network What are firewall rules? What are the most common firewall ruleset examples? What are examples of best practices for setting up firewall rules? How do firewall policies differ from a network security policy? How can AlgoSec help with managing your firewall rules? Get the latest insights from the experts Use these six best practices to simplify compliance and risk White paper Learn how AlgoSec can help you pass PCI-DSS Audits and ensure Solution overview See how this customer improved compliance readiness and risk Case study Choose a better way to manage your network

In this webinar, Omer Ganot, AlgoSec’s Cloud Security Product Manager, and Stuti Deshpande s, Amazon Web Service’s Partner Solutions Architect, will share security challenges in the hybrid cloud and provide tips to protect your AWS and hybrid environment Webinars Overcoming hybrid environment management challenges | AWS & AlgoSec Webinar Public clouds such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) are a critical part of your hybrid network. It is important to keep out the bad guys (including untrusted insiders) and proactively secure your entire hybrid network. Securing your network is both the responsibility of the cloud providers, as well as your organization’s IT and CISOs – the shared responsibility model. As a result, your organization needs visibility into what needs to be protected, as well as an understanding of the tools that are available to keep them secure. In this webinar, Omer Ganot, AlgoSec’s Cloud Security Product Manager, and Stuti Deshpande’s, Amazon Web Service’s Partner Solutions Architect, will share security challenges in the hybrid cloud and provide tips to protect your AWS and hybrid environment, including how to: Securely migrate workloads from on-prem to public cloud Gain unified visibility into your network topology and traffic flows, including both public cloud and on-premises assets, from a single console. Manage/orchestrate multiple layers of security controls and proactively detect misconfigurations Protect your data, accounts, and workloads from misconfiguration risks Protect web applications in AWS by filtering traffic and blocking common attack patterns, such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting Gain a unified view of your compliance status and achieve continuous compliance September 30, 2020 Stuti Deshpande Partner Solution Architect, AWS Omer Ganot Product Manager Relevant resources Migrating Business Applications to AWS? Tips on Where to Start Keep Reading Tips for auditing your AWS security policies, the right way Keep Reading Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Common Firewall Threats Do you really know what vulnerabilities currently exist in your enterprise firewalls? Your vulnerability scans... Cyber Attacks & Incident Response Top 10 common firewall threats and vulnerabilities Kevin Beaver 2 min read Kevin Beaver Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 7/16/15 Published Common Firewall Threats Do you really know what vulnerabilities currently exist in your enterprise firewalls? Your vulnerability scans are coming up clean. Your penetration tests have not revealed anything of significance. Therefore, everything’s in check, right? Not necessarily. In my work performing independent security assessments , I have found over the years that numerous firewall-related vulnerabilities can be present right under your nose. Sometimes they’re blatantly obvious. Other times, not so much. Here are my top 10 common firewall vulnerabilities that you need to be on the lookout for listed in order of typical significance/priority: Password(s) are set to the default which creates every security problem imaginable, including accountability issues when network events occur. Anyone on the Internet can access Microsoft SQL Server databases hosted internally which can lead to internal database access, especially when SQL Server has the default credentials (sa/password) or an otherwise weak password. Firewall OS software is outdated and no longer supported which can facilitate known exploits including remote code execution and denial of service attacks, and might not look good in the eyes of third-parties if a breach occurs and it’s made known that the system was outdated. Anyone on the Internet can access the firewall via unencrypted HTTP connections, as these can be exploited by an outsider who’s on the same network segment such as an open/unencrypted wireless network. Anti-spoofing controls are not enabled on the external interface which can facilitate denial of service and related attacks. Rules exist without logging which can be especially problematic for critical systems/services. Any protocol/service can connect between internal network segments which can lead to internal breaches and compliance violations, especially as it relates to PCI DSS cardholder data environments. Anyone on the internal network can access the firewall via unencrypted telnet connections. These connections can be exploited by an internal user (or malware) if ARP poisoning is enabled via a tool such as the free password recovery program Cain & Abel . Any type of TCP or UDP service can exit the network which can enable the spreading of malware and spam and lead to acceptable usage and related policy violations. Rules exist without any documentation which can create security management issues, especially when firewall admins leave the organization abruptly. Firewall Threats and Solutions Every security issue – whether confirmed or potential – is subject to your own interpretation and needs. But the odds are good that these firewall vulnerabilities are creating tangible business risks for your organization today. But the good news is that these security issues are relatively easy to fix. Obviously, you’ll want to think through most of them before “fixing” them as you can quickly create more problems than you’re solving. And you might consider testing these changes on a less critical firewall or, if you’re lucky enough, in a test environment. Ultimately understanding the true state of your firewall security is not only good for minimizing network risks, it can also be beneficial in terms of documenting your network, tweaking its architecture, and fine-tuning some of your standards, policies, and procedures that involve security hardening, change management, and the like. And the most important step is acknowledging that these firewall vulnerabilities exist in the first place! Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Learn about the essential firewall change management process. Understand how to implement, track, and control changes to your firewall configurations for optimal security and compliance. Firewall change management process: How does It work? Are network firewalls adequately managed in today's complex environment? For more than two decades, we have been utilizing network firewalls, yet we’re still struggling to properly manage them. In today’s world of information-driven businesses there’s a lot more that can go wrong— and a lot more to lose—when it comes to firewalls, firewall policy management and overall network security. Network environments have become so complex that a single firewall configuration change can take the entire network offline and expose your business to cyber-attacks. Schedule a Demo Why you need firewall change management processes Improperly managed firewalls create some of the greatest business risks in any organization, however often you don’t find out about these risks until it is too late. Outdated firewall rules can allow unauthorized network access which result in cyber-attacks and gaps in compliance with industry and government regulations, while improper firewall rule changes can break business applications. Often, it is simple errors and oversights in the firewall change management process that cause problems, such as opening the network perimeter to security exploits and creating business continuity issues. Therefore, firewall configuration changes present a business challenge that you need to address properly once and for all. Schedule a Demo Firewall change management FAQs Frequently asked questions about the firewall change management process How can I manage firewall changes? In IT, things are constantly in a state of flux. The firewall change management process is one of the biggest problems that businesses face, however, if you can manage the firewall configuration changes consistently over time, then you’ve already won half the battle. You’ll not only have a more secure network environment, but you will allow IT to serve its purpose by facilitating business rather than getting in the way. To manage firewall changes properly, it’s critical to have well-documented and reasonable firewall policies and procedures, combined with automation controls, such as AlgoSec’s security policy management solution, to help with enforcement and oversight. With AlgoSec you can automate the entire firewall change management process: Process firewall changes with zero-touch automation in minutes, instead of days – from planning and design through to deployment on the device – while maintaining full control and ensuring accuracy Leverage topology awareness to identify all the firewalls that are affected by a proposed change Proactively assess the impact of every firewall change before it is implemented to ensure security and continuous compliance with regulatory and corporate standards Automate rule recertification processes while also identifying firewall rules which are out of date, unused or unnecessary Reconcile change requests with the actual changes performed, to identify any changes that were performed “out of band” Automatically document the entire firewall change management workflow It is also important to analyze the impact firewall changes will have on the business. The ideal way is to utilize AlgoSec’s firewall policy management solution to test different scenarios before pushing them out to production. Once AlgoSec and your processes are integrated with your overall change management workflow, you can set your business up for success instead of creating a “wait and see” situation, and “hoping” everything works out. Simply put, if you don’t have the proper insight and predictability, then you’ll set up your business and yourself for failure. How can I assess the risk of my firewall policies? As networks become more complex and firewall rulesets continue to grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify and quantify the risk caused by misconfigured or overly permissive firewall rules. A major contributor to firewall policy risks is lack of understanding of exactly what the firewall is doing at any given time. Even if traffic is flowing and applications are working, it doesn’t mean you don’t have unnecessary exposure. All firewall configuration changes either move your network towards better security or increased risks. Even the most experienced firewall administrator can make mistakes. Therefore, the best approach for minimizing firewall policy risks is to use automated firewall policy management tools to help find and fix the security risks before they get out of control. Automated firewall policy management tools, such as AlgoSec, employ widely-accepted firewall best practices and can analyze your current environment to highlight gaps and weaknesses. AlgoSec can also help tighten overly permissive rules (e.g., “ANY” service) by pinpointing the traffic that is flowing through any given rule. Combining policy analysis with the right tools allows you to be proactive with firewall security rather than finding out about the risks once it’s too late. How can I maintain optimized firewall rulesets? Maintaining a clean set of firewall rules is one of the most important functions in network security. Unwieldy rulesets are not just a technical nuisance—they also create business risks, such as open ports and unnecessary VPN tunnels, conflicting rules that create backdoor entry points, and an enormous amount of unnecessary complexity. In addition, bloated rulesets significantly complicate the auditing process, which often involves a review of each rule and its related business justification. This creates unnecessary costs for the business and wastes precious IT time. Examples of problematic firewall rules include unused rules, shadowed rules, expired rules, unattached objects and rules that are not ordered optimally (e.g. the most hit rule is at the bottom of the policy, creating unnecessary firewall overhead). Proactive and periodic checks can help eliminate rule base oversights and allow you to maintain a firewall environment that facilitates security rather than exposes weaknesses. To effectively manage your firewall rulesets, you need the right firewall administrator tools, such as AlgoSec, that will provide you with the visibility needed to see which rules can be eliminated or optimized, and what the implications are of removing or changing a rule. AlgoSec can also automate the change process, eliminating the need for time-consuming and inaccurate manual checks. You also need to ensure that you manage the rulesets on all firewalls. Picking and choosing certain firewalls is like limiting the scope of a security assessment to only part of your network. Your results will be limited, creating a serious false sense of security. It’s fine to focus on your most critical firewalls initially, but you need to address the rulesets across all firewalls eventually. Schedule a Demo Additional use cases AlgoSec’s Firewall Policy Management Solution supports the following use-cases: Auditing and Compliance Generate audit-ready reports in an instant! Covers all major regulations, including PCI, HIPAA, SOX, NERC and more. Business Continuity Now you can discover, securely provision, maintain, migrate and decommission connectivity for all business applications and accelerate service delivery helping to prevent outages. Micro-segmentation Define and implement your micro-segmentation strategy inside the datacenter, while ensuring that it doesn’t block critical business services. Risk Management Make sure that all firewall rule changes are optimally designed and implemented. Reduce risk and prevent misconfigurations, while ensuring security and compliance. Digital Transformation Discover, map and migrate application connectivity to the cloud with easy-to-use workflows, maximizing agility while ensuring security. DevOps Integrate security with your DevOps tools, practice, and methodology enabling faster deployment of your business applications into production. Schedule a Demo Select a size Are network firewalls adequately managed in today's complex environment? Why you need firewall change management processes Firewall change management FAQs Additional use cases Get the latest insights from the experts Network management & policy change automation Read more https://www.algosec.com/webinar/security-change-management-agility-vs-control/ Watch webinar Security policy change management solution Read more Choose a better way to manage your network

Explore Algosec's customer success stories to see how organizations worldwide improve security, compliance, and efficiency with our solutions. SANOFI FINDS THE CURE FOR TIME-CONSUMING APPLICATION MIGRATION WITH ALGOSEC Organization Sanofi Industry Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Headquarters Paris, France Download case study Share Customer
success stories "Using AlgoSec during our data center migration allowed us to give technical project leaders access to all of the rules involved in the migration of their applications, which reduced the IT security team’s time on these projects by 80%. The application was very useful, simple to use and made everybody happy." AlgoSec Business Impact Simplify data center migration projects Reduce rule migration process time by 80% Streamline and improve firewall operations Background A multinational pharmaceutical company, Sanofi, has 112 industrial sites in 41 countries and operations in more than 100 countries. The company’s 110,000 employees are committed to protecting health, enhancing life, providing hope and responding to the potential healthcare needs of seven billion people around the world. Challenge The sensitive nature of Sanofi’s business and its wide ranging global operations require an extensive and well secured network, which currently has 120 firewalls all over the world. In the midst of a data center consolidation project, the company needed to understand how its security devices would be affected by application migrations. Sanofi was also eager to improve change management processes and gain key performance indicators (KPIs) for risk analysis.“Our main concern with the data center consolidation project was to enable various technical project leaders to see the different rules impacting the migration of their applications, and to avoid any outages. For that, we needed pre-migration and post-migration documentation on security,” says Bruno Roulleau, Network Security Architect at Sanofi. “We also needed metrics on the risk associated with different policies on the firewalls.” Solution When looking for a solution, Sanofi evaluated several vendors. “A key point for us was the ability to easily integrate the security devices in our current infrastructure, into the solution. We also wanted detailed reporting that would allow us to delegate policy management to project leaders,” Roulleau notes.Because Sanofi constantly upgrades its devices, its systems need to evolve and incorporate the new devices and rules seamlessly. “We chose the AlgoSec Security Management solution because its graphical interface is very user-friendly, it easily supports new devices and generates detailed reports and metrics on risks,” says Roulleau.Sanofi also appreciated AlgoSec’s flexibility. “AlgoSec is very open to developing new capabilities. We can ask to have some new features available by a certain date and they will deliver on time,” according to Roulleau. For a company with a complex network and rapidly evolving security needs, that responsiveness proved key to the decision to go with AlgoSec. Results Sanofi’s security team is now able to delegate responsibility for rule changes both during migration and on an ongoing basis. “Using AlgoSec during our data center migration allowed us to give technical project leaders access to all of the rules involved in the migration of their applications, which reduced the IT security team’s time on these projects by 80%. The application was very useful, simple to use and made everybody happy,” Roulleau says.Additionally, with AlgoSec’s reports Sanofi can now easily and clearly document the status of their firewalls as well as the impact of any changes on the network throughout the migration project. “We can now generate detailed reports in just three clicks!” Roulleau adds.Furthermore, AlgoSec’s optimization reports enabled Sanofi to clean up its security policies. Because they could clearly see all of the rules and their impact on network security, Roulleau’s team was able to safely eliminate unused and duplicate rules, which increased the efficiency of the firewalls. Those reports also provided insight into the risks associated with the current system and various changes being made. Schedule time with one of our experts

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A quarter-by-quarter review of AlgoSec’s 2025 covering key product launches like Horizon, our latest research on zero trust and convergence, customer milestones, and the industry recognition that defined our year. AlgoSec Reviews 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? Adel Osta Dadan 2 min read Adel Osta Dadan Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 12/18/25 Published As we close out 2025, I find myself reflecting on what has been an extraordinary journey for AlgoSec. This year was marked by breakthrough innovations, significant industry recognition, and an unwavering commitment to our vision of secure application connectivity. From launching game-changing solutions to earning accolades on the global stage, 2025 challenged us to push boundaries – and we rose to the occasion with confidence and purpose. Every challenge met, every milestone achieved, has reinforced our resolve to lead in network security policy management across hybrid cloud environments. The story of AlgoSec in 2025 is one of innovation validated by the industry and, most importantly, by the trust of our customers. In this featured year-end review, I’ll walk through AlgoSec’s 2025 journey quarter by quarter. It’s a personal narrative from my vantage point as someone fortunate enough to help shape our story. The tone is proud and forward-looking because the accomplishments of this year have set the stage for an even more ambitious 2026. So let’s dive in, quarter by quarter, into how 2025 unfolded for AlgoSec – a year of solidifying leadership, fostering innovation, and securing connectivity for enterprises worldwide. Q1 – Launching a new horizon in hybrid cloud security The first quarter of 2025 was all about bold beginnings. We started the year by challenging the status quo in hybrid network security and laying the groundwork for everything to follow. Launch of the AlgoSec Horizon platform: In February, we unveiled AlgoSec Horizon , our most advanced application-centric security management platform for converging cloud and on-premise environments. This wasn’t just a product launch – it was a statement of direction. AlgoSec Horizon is the industry’s first platform to unify security policy automation across hybrid networks, giving teams a single pane of glass for both cloud and data center connectivity. By applying AI-driven visibility and risk mitigation, Horizon allows security teams to consistently manage application connectivity and policies across any environment. “Today’s networks are 100x more complex... requiring organizations to unify security operations, automate policies and enhance visibility across infrastructures,” as our VP of Product Eran Shiff noted at launch. With Horizon, our customers gained full visibility into their hybrid-cloud network and the power to remediate risks without slowing down the business. We even showcased Horizon live at Cisco Live 2025 in Amsterdam, letting attendees see firsthand how it simplifies hybrid cloud security. This Q1 milestone set the tone for the year – proving that we don’t just adapt to industry shifts, we lead them. Continuing analyst recognition and thought leadership: Building on momentum from the previous year, we carried forward strong validation from industry analysts. AlgoSec entered 2025 still highlighted as a Market Outperformer in GigaOm’s recent Radar Report for Cloud Network Security. In that report, analyst Andrew Green praised our core strength: “AlgoSec automates application connectivity and security policy across the hybrid network estate including public cloud, private cloud, containers, and on-premises networks.” Such independent insight validated our unique, application-centric approach. Internally, these early recognitions energized our teams. We doubled down on R&D and prepared to share our expertise more broadly – including wrapping up work on our annual research report. Q1’s focus on innovation and expert validation paved the way for the accomplishments that followed in subsequent quarters. Q2 – Thought leadership and industry accolades on the global stage If Q1 was about innovation, Q2 was about validation. In the second quarter, AlgoSec stepped onto the global stage at RSAC 2025 and emerged with both influential research and prestigious awards. It was a period where our thought leadership in secure connectivity met with resounding industry recognition. State of network security report 2025: In April, we released our annual State of Network Security Report , a comprehensive vendor-agnostic study of emerging trends and challenges in network security. This report quickly became a cornerstone of our thought leadership. It revealed how businesses are prioritizing multi-cloud strategies and zero-trust architecture in unprecedented ways. For instance, zero-trust adoption reached an all-time high – 56% of organizations reported they had fully or partially implemented zero-trust by 2025. We also highlighted that multi-cloud environments are now the norm, with Azure rising to become the most widely used cloud platform among respondents. Perhaps most telling was the finding that automating application connectivity ranked as the top priority for minimizing risk and downtime [9] . These insights underscored a message we’ve championed for years – that security can and should be an enabler of business agility. By shining a light on gaps in visibility and the need for policy automation, our Q2 research reinforced AlgoSec’s role as a thought leader in secure application connectivity. The report’s influence was evident in conversations at industry events and in how customers approached their network security strategy. Awards at RSAC 2025 – best security company and more: The highlight of Q2 came during the RSA Conference in late April, when AlgoSec earned two major industry accolades in one week. SC Media honored AlgoSec with the 2025 SC Award for Best Security Company, a recognition of our impact and innovation in cybersecurity. At the same time, Cyber Defense Magazine announced us as a winner of a 2025 Global InfoSec Award for Best Service – Cybersecurity Company [11] . Securing these prestigious awards simultaneously was a proud and humbling moment. It marked a significant milestone for our team as we continue to gain momentum across the global enterprise market. These accomplishments also validated our mission to deliver secure, seamless application connectivity across hybrid environments. “We’re honored to be recognized for empowering our customers to move faster and stay secure,” an AlgoSec spokesperson said, when discussing what the SC Award means to us. Indeed, being named Best Security Company came on the heels of some impressive company growth metrics – over 2,200 organizations now trust AlgoSec for their security policy management needs, and we saw 14% customer growth over the past year. The SC Award judges also noted that we command roughly 32% of the security policy management market share , highlighting AlgoSec’s leadership in this space. For me personally, seeing our work celebrated at RSAC 2025 was exhilarating. It wasn’t just about trophies; it was about validation from the community that the path we chose – focusing on application-centric, hybrid-cloud security – is the right one. Q2 ended with our trophy cabinet a bit fuller and our resolve stronger than ever to keep raising the bar. Q3 – Accelerating growth and fostering community The third quarter saw our innovations bear fruit in the market and our community initiatives take center stage. Coming out of the big wins of Q2, we maintained that momentum through the summer by executing on our strategies and engaging deeply with customers and partners. Q3 was about scaling up – both in terms of business impact and thought leadership outreach. Surging adoption and business growth: By mid-year, the impact of our new platform and solutions was clear in the numbers . In fact, we recorded a 36% year-over-year increase in new annual recurring revenue (ARR) in the first half of 2025 , driven largely by strong adoption of the AlgoSec Horizon platform. Our existing customers stayed with us as well – we maintained a gross dollar retention rate above 90%, a metric that speaks to the tangible value organizations are getting from our products. One anecdote that sticks with me is a story from a major U.S. financial institution: after deploying Horizon, they discovered 1,800 previously unknown applications and their connectivity requirements within the first two weeks . That kind of visibility – uncovering what was once shadow IT – is a game-changer for risk reduction. It proved that our focus on hybrid cloud security and intelligent automation is solving real problems. Equally rewarding was the feedback from customers. By Q3, AlgoSec was sustaining an average rating of 4.5 stars on Gartner Peer Insights , with users praising our platform’s depth and ease of use. We’ve also consistently ranked at the top of our category on peer review sites like G2 and PeerSpot, reflecting the positive outcomes our users are achieving . This convergence of market growth and customer satisfaction in Q3 affirmed that our application-centric approach is resonating strongly. Extending thought leadership through strategic research: Our growth in Q3 wasn’t just reflected in numbers—it also showed in how we’re shaping the security conversation. One standout was the publication of the Security Convergence eBook , developed in partnership with ESG. This research-backed guide addressed the operational and strategic challenges of aligning application, network, and cloud security. It offered actionable insights for enterprises navigating the intersection of security domains, a challenge we consistently hear about from our customers. The eBook resonated with CISOs and security leaders tasked with unifying fragmented processes under growing compliance and performance pressures. It reaffirmed AlgoSec’s unique position—not just as a solution provider, but as a partner helping drive clarity and convergence in the face of growing complexity. Community engagement and knowledge sharing : Even as we grew, we never lost sight of the importance of community and education. In September, we launched the AlgoSec Horizon Tour , a roadshow of interactive sessions across EMEA and the U.S. aimed at sharing best practices in secure application connectivity. These workshops gave enterprise security teams a hands-on look at Horizon’s capabilities and provided a forum for us to hear feedback directly from users. The tour culminated in our annual AlgoSummit 2025 – a virtual conference we hosted on September 30th that brought together customers, partners, and industry experts. If I had to choose a proud moment from Q3, AlgoSummit 2025 would be high on the list. We facilitated deep-dive discussions on zero trust architecture , cloud security, and the future of network policy automation. It was inspiring to see our community openly exchange ideas and solutions. This summit wasn’t just a company event; it felt like an industry think-tank. It reinforced AlgoSec’s role as a trusted advisor in the field of network security, not just a product vendor. By the end of Q3, we had strengthened the bonds with our user community and showcased that as networks evolve, we’re evolving right alongside our customers – providing guidance, platform innovations, and an open ear to their needs. Recognition of customer success: On a more personal note, Q3 also brought moments that reminded us why we do what we do. I recall one customer review that particularly struck me, where a network security manager described how AlgoSec became indispensable as their organization embraced zero trust. “As we aspire to achieve zero-trust… we need tools like AlgoSec to assist us in the journey because most application owners do not know what access is needed. This tool helps them learn what needs to be implemented to reduce the attack surface,” he noted. Hearing directly from customers about how we’re helping them reduce risk and implement zero trust principles is incredibly motivating. It underscores that behind the growth statistics are real organizations becoming safer and more agile, powered by our solutions. This customer-centric ethos carried us through Q3 and into the final stretch of the year. Q4 – Culminating achievements and setting the stage for what’s next As the year drew to a close, AlgoSec showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, Q4 was about finishing strong and preparing for the future. We used the final quarter to expand our solution capabilities, help customers navigate new security paradigms, and celebrate the capstone of several achievements. It’s been a period of tying up 2025’s narrative threads and pointing our compass toward 2026. Expanding zero-trust and cloud security initiatives: In Q4, we doubled down on helping customers realize Zero Trust Architecture across their increasingly complex environments. Building on the micro-segmentation and application dependency mapping capabilities of our platform, we introduced new workflows to streamline zero-trust policy adoption. Our approach has been to make zero trust practical – ensuring that as enterprises segment their networks, they maintain clear visibility into application flows and can automate rule changes without fear of breaking things. We also expanded integrations with cloud platforms, recognizing that hybrid cloud deployments require consistent enforcement of zero-trust principles. The goal is simple: only allow what’s necessary. As one of our customers at NCR put it, “we need tools like AlgoSec… because most application owners do not know what access is needed. This tool helps them learn what needs to be implemented to reduce the attack surface.” That insight from the field echoes in our Q4 product enhancements – we focused on features that help identify and tighten overly permissive access, be it on-prem or in the cloud. Additionally, we kept an eye on emerging regulations and frameworks. With new security compliance requirements on the horizon, we ensured our solutions can automate audits and segmentation policies to keep our customers one step ahead. In short, Q4 was about reinforcing our commitment to hybrid cloud security and zero trust, so that our users can enter 2026 with confidence in their security posture. Even as 2025 ends, the wave of recognition we’ve ridden continues into Q4. I’m thrilled to share that in November, AlgoSec was named a “Trailblazing” company in Network Security and Management as part of the 2025 Top InfoSec Innovator Awards . This honor, bestowed by Cyber Defense Magazine’s panel of judges, places us among a select group of cybersecurity companies driving innovation and shaping the future of the industry. It’s a testament to our team’s hard work and our forward-thinking roadmap. Looking ahead to 2026 Reflecting on 2025, it’s clear that this year has been t ransformationa l for AlgoSec. We innovated boldly, earned trust widely, and solidified our position as the go-to partner for enterprises seeking secure, agile connectivity. The awards and recognitions were wonderful highlights – they energize us – but what truly drives our pride is knowing we helped organizations around the world accelerate their business securely . The foundations we laid this year in areas like zero trust architecture, hybrid cloud security, and intelligent policy automation have set us up for an even more impactful 2026. As we turn toward 2026, our vision is sharper than ever. We will continue to advance our platform – expect even more AI-driven insights, broader cloud integrations, and features that make managing network security policies in complex environments simpler than ever. We’ll also keep championing thought leadership through research and community engagement, because educating the market is part of our DNA. The threat landscape will undoubtedly evolve in 2026, but we plan to stay ahead of the curve , helping our customers navigate whatever comes next with confidence and clarity. On a personal note, I am incredibly grateful for the dedication of our team and the unwavering support of our AlgoSec community. It’s your feedback and your challenges that inspire our innovations. This year we’ve seen what we can achieve together – from launching Horizon to embracing zero trust, from winning awards to solving tough problems on the ground. 2025 has been a chapter of leadership and growth in AlgoSec’s story. Now we set our sights on writing the next chapter. With the momentum at our backs and our mission guiding us, we step into 2026 ready to continue redefining what’s possible in secure application connectivity. Here’s to another year of innovation, collaboration, and success on the horizon! Thank you for being part of our 2025 journey. We’re excited for what’s to come – and we’ll be sure to keep you posted every step of the way. Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

An application-centric approach to firewall rule recertification: Challenges and benefits Download PDF Schedule time with one of our experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Implement micro-segmentation effectively, from strategy to execution, to enhance security, minimize risks, and protect critical assets across your network. Micro-segmentation from strategy to execution Overview Learn how to plan and execute your micro-segmentation project in AlgoSec’s guide. Schedule a Demo What is Micro segmentation Micro-segmentation is a technique to create secure zones in networks. It lets companies isolate workloads from one another and introduce tight controls over internal access to sensitive data. This makes network security more granular. Micro-segmentation is an “upgrade” to network segmentation. Companies have long relied on firewalls, VLANs, and access control lists (ACL) to segment their network. Network segmentation is a key defense-in-depth strategy, segregating and protecting company data and limiting attackers’ lateral movements. Consider a physical intruder who enters a gated community. Despite having breached the gate, the intruder cannot freely enter the houses in the community because, in addition to the outside gate, each house has locks on its door. Micro-segmentation takes this an additional step further – even if the intruder breaks into a house, the intruder cannot access all the rooms. Schedule a Demo Why Micro-segment? Organizations frequently implement micro-segmentation to block lateral movement. Two common types of lateral movements are insider threats and ransomware. Insider threats are employees or contractors gaining access to data that they are not authorized to access. Ransomware is a type of malware attack in which the attacker locks and encrypts the victim’s data and then demands a payment to unlock and decrypt the data. If an attacker takes over one desktop or one server in your estate and deploys malware, you want to reduce the “blast radius” and make sure that the malware can’t spread throughout the entire data center. And if you decide not to pay the ransom? Datto’s Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report informs us that: The cost of downtime is 23x greater than the average ransom requested in 2019. Downtime costs due to ransomware are up by 200% year-over-year. Schedule a Demo The SDN Solution With software-defined networks, such as Cisco ACI and VMware NSX, micro-segmentation can be achieved without deploying additional controls such as firewalls. Because the data center is software-driven, the fabric has built-in filtering capabilities. This means that you can introduce policy rules without adding new hardware. SDN solutions can filter flows both inside the data center (east-west traffic) and flows entering or exiting the data center (north-south traffic). The SDN technology supporting your data center eliminates many of the earlier barriers to micro-segmentation. Yet, although a software-defined fabric makes segmentation possible, there are still many challenges to making it a reality. Schedule a Demo What is a Good Filtering Policy A good filtering policy has three requirements: 1 – Allows all business traffic The last thing you want is to write a micro-segmented policy and have it break necessary business communication, causing applications to stop functioning. 2 – Allows nothing else By default, all other traffic should be denied. 3 – Future-proof “More of the same” changes in the network environment shouldn’t break rules. If you write your policies too narrowly, then any change in the network, such as a new server or application, could cause something to stop working. Write with scalability in mind. How do organizations achieve these requirements? They need to know what the traffic flows are as well as what should be allowed and what should be denied. This is difficult because most traffic is undocumented. There is no clear record of the applications in the data center and what network flows they depend on. To get accurate information, you need to perform a “discovery” process. Schedule a Demo A Blueprint for Creating a Micro-segmentation Policy Micro-segmentation Blueprint Discovery You need to find out which traffic needs to be allowed and then you can decide what not to allow. Two common ways to implement a discovery process are traffic-based discovery and content-based discovery. Traffic-Based Discovery Traffic-based discovery is the process of understanding traffic flows: Observe the traffic that is traversing the data center, analyze it, and identify the intent of the flows by mapping them to the applications they support. You can collect the raw traffic with a traffic sniffer/network TAP or use a NetFlow feed. Content-based or Data-Based Approach In the content-based approach, you organize the data center systems into segments based on the sensitivity of the data they process. For example, an eCommerce application may process credit card information which is regulated by the PCI DSS standard. Therefore, you need to identify the servers supporting the eCommerce application and separate them in your filtering policy. Discovering traffic flows within a data center Micro-segmentation Blueprint Using NetFlow for Traffic Mapping The traffic source on which it is easiest to base application discovery is NetFlow. Most routers and switches can be configured to emit a NetFlow feed without requiring the deployment of agents throughout the data center. The flows in the NetFlow feed are clustered into business applications based on recurring IP addresses and correlations in time. For example, if an HTTPS connection from a client at 172.7.1.11 to 10.3.3.3 is observed at 10 AM, and a PostgreSQL connection from the same 10.3.3.3 to 10.1.1.1 is observed 0.5 seconds later, it’s clear that all three systems support a single application, which can be labeled with a name such as “Trading System”. 172.7.1.0/2410.3.3.3 TRADE SYS HTTPS10.3.3.3 TRADE SYS 10.1.1.11 DB TCP/543210.3.3.7 FOREX 10.1.1.11 DB TCP/5432 Identifying traffic flows in common, based on shared IP addresses NetFlow often produces thousands of “thin flow” records (one IP to another IP), even for a single application. In the example above, there may be a NetFlow record for every client desktop. It is important to aggregate them into “fat flows” (e.g., that allows all the clients in the 172.7.1.0/24 range). In addition to avoiding an explosion in the number of flows, aggregation also provides a higher-level understanding, as well as future-proofing the policies against fluctuations in IP address allocation. Using the discovery platform in the AlgoSec Security Management Suite to identify the flows in combination with information from your firewalls can help you decide where to put the boundaries of your segments and which policies to put in these filters. Micro-segmentation Blueprint Defining Logical Segments Once you have discovered the business applications whose traffic is traversing the data center (using traffic-based discovery) and have also identified the data sensitivity (using a content-based approach) you are well positioned to define your segments. Bear in mind that all the traffic that is confined to a segment is allowed. Traffic crossing between segments is blocked by default – and needs to be explicitly allowed by a policy rule. There are two potential starting points: Segregate the systems processing sensitive data into their own segments. You may have to do this anyway for regulatory reasons. Segregate networks connecting to client systems (desktops, laptops, wireless networks) into “human-zone” segments. Client systems are often the entry points of malware, and are always the source of malicious insider attacks. Then, place the remaining servers supporting each application, each in its own segment. Doing so will save you the need to write explicit policy rules to allow traffic that is internal to only one business application. Example segment within a data center Micro-segmentation Blueprint Creating the Filtering Policy Once the segments are defined, we need to write the policy. Traffic confined to a segment is automatically allowed so we don’t need to worry about it anymore. We just need to write policy for traffic crossing micro-segment boundaries. Eventually, the last rule on the policy must be a default-deny: “from anywhere to anywhere, with any service – DENY.” However, enforcing such a rule in the early days of the micro-segmentation project, before all the rest of the policy is written, risks breaking many applications’ communications. So start with a (totally insecure) default-allow rule until your policy is ready, and then switch to a default-deny on “D-Day” (“deny-day”). We’ll discuss D-Day shortly. What types of rules are we going to be writing? Cross segment flows – Allowing traffic between segments: e.g., Allow the eCommerce servers to access the credit-card Flows to/from outside the data center – e.g., allow employees in the finance department to connect to financial data within the data center from their machines in the human-zone, or allow access from the Internet to the front-end eCommerce web servers. Users outside the data center need to access data within the data center Micro-segmentation Blueprint Default Allow – with Logging To avoid major connectivity disruptions, start your micro-segmentation project gently. Instead of writing a “DENY” rule at the end of the policy, write an “ALLOW” rule – which is clearly insecure – but turn on logging for this ALLOW rule. This creates a log of all connections that match the default-allow rule. Initially you will receive many logs entries from the default-allow rule; your goal in the project is to eliminate them. To do this, you go over the applications you discovered earlier, write the policy rules that support each application’s cross-segment flows, and place them above the default-allow rule. This means that the traffic of each application you handle will no longer match the default-allow (it will match the new rules you wrote) – and the amount of default-allow logs will decrease. Keep adding rules, application by application, until the final allow rule is not generating any more logs. At that point, you reach the final milestone in the project: D-Day. Micro-segmentation Blueprint Preparing for “D-Day” Once logging generated by the default-allow rule ceases to indicate new flows that need to be added to your filtering policy, you can start preparing for “D-Day.” This is the day that you flip the switch and change the final rule from “default ALLOW” to “default DENY.” Once you do that, all the undiscovered traffic is going to be denied by the filtering fabric, and you will finally have a secured, micro-segmented, data center. This is a big deal! However, you should realize that D-Day is going to cause a big organizational change. From this day forward, every application developer whose application requires new traffic to cross the data center will need to ask for permission to allow this traffic; they will need to follow a process, which includes opening a change request, and then wait for the change to be implemented. The free-wheeling days are over. You need to prepare for D-Day. Consider steps such as: Get management buy-in Communicate the change across the organization Set a change control window Have “all hands on deck” on D-Day to quickly correct anything that may have been missed and causes applications to break Micro-segmentation Blueprint Change Requests & Compliance Notice that after D-Day, any change in application connectivity requires filing a “change request”. When the information security team is evaluating a change request – they need to check whether the request is in line with the “acceptable traffic” policy. A common method for managing policy at the high-level is to use a table, where each row represents a segment, and every column represents a segment. Each cell in the table lists all the services that are allowed from its “row” segment to its “column” segment. Keeping this table in a machine readable format, such an Excel spreadsheet, enables software systems to run a what-if risk-check that compares each change-request with the acceptable policy, and flags any discrepancies before the new rules are deployed. Such a what-if risk-check is also important for regulatory compliance. Regulations such as PCI and ISO27001 require organizations to define such a policy, and to compare themselves to it; demonstrating the policy is often part of the certification or audit. Schedule a Demo Enabling Micro-segmentation with AlgoSec The AlgoSec Security Management Suite (ASMS) makes it easy to define and enforce your micro-segmentation strategy inside the data center, ensuring that it does not block critical business services and does meet compliance requirements. AlgoSec’s powerful AutoDiscovery capabilities help you understand the network flows in your organization. You can automatically connect the recognized traffic flows to the business applications that use them. Once the segments are established, AlgoSec seamlessly manages the network security policy across your entire hybrid network estate. AlgoSec proactively checks every proposed firewall rule change request against the segmentation strategy to ensure that the change doesn’t break the segmentation strategy, introduce risk, or violate compliance requirements. AlgoSec enforces micro-segmentation by: Generating a custom report on compliance enforced by the micro-segmentation policy Identifying unprotected network flows that do not cross any firewall and are not filtered for an application Automatically identifying changes that violate the micro-segmentation strategy Automatically implementing network security changes Automatically validating changes Security zones in AlgoSec’s AppViz Want to learn more? Get a personal demo Schedule a Demo About AlgoSec AlgoSec, a global cybersecurity leader, empowers organizations to secure application connectivity by automating connectivity flows and security policy, anywhere.  The AlgoSec platform enables the world’s most complex organizations to gain visibility, reduce risk and process changes at zero-touch across the hybrid network.   AlgoSec’s patented application-centric view of the hybrid network enables business owners, application owners, and information security professionals to talk the same language, so organizations can deliver business applications faster while achieving a heightened security posture.  Over 1,800 of the world’s leading organizations trust AlgoSec to help secure their most critical workloads across public cloud, private cloud, containers, and on-premises networks, while taking advantage of almost two decades of leadership in Network Security Policy Management.  See what securely accelerating your digital transformation, move-to-cloud, infrastructure modernization, or micro-segmentation initiatives looks like at www.algosec.com Want to learn more about how AlgoSec can help enable micro-segmentation? Schedule a demo. Schedule a Demo Select a size Overview What is Micro segmentation Why Micro-segment? The SDN Solution What is a Good Filtering Policy A Blueprint for Creating a Micro-segmentation Policy Enabling Micro-segmentation with AlgoSec About AlgoSec Get the latest insights from the experts Choose a better way to manage your network

It goes without saying that security is the cornerstone of any organization today. This includes ensuring access to corporate data is... Firewall Change Management Firewall migration tips & best practices Joanne Godfrey 2 min read Joanne Godfrey Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. firewallmigration Tags Share this article 8/18/14 Published It goes without saying that security is the cornerstone of any organization today. This includes ensuring access to corporate data is secured, connectivity to the data center from both internal and external users is secured, and that critical security updates are installed. Now comes the big question: what if you have to migrate your security policy to a new platform? With cloud computing and distributed data centers across the world nothing in technology is ever constant anymore. So how do you control and manage a firewall migration? What if you use multiple vendors’ solutions with both virtual and physical appliances? A firewall migration can be as simple as moving from one model to another, or a lot more complicated. As an experienced cloud architect, I’ve been a part of a number of firewall migration projects. Here are three tips to help make your firewall migration project a little bit easier. Create powerful firewall and security visibility map. All aspects of your firewall must be documented and well planned before doing a migration, and you must plan for both current as well as future needs. Start by gathering information: create a visual, dynamic map of your firewall architecture and traffic, which should include all technical connectivity data. Understand, document and prepare policy migration. Once you have your visual firewall map it’s time to look under the hood. One firewall might be easy, but is it ever really just one security appliance? The dynamic nature of the modern data center means that multiple security vendors can live under one roof. So how do you create a policy migration plan around heterogeneous platforms? You need to identify and document all the security policies and services and network algorithms for each firewall end-point. Analyze business impact and create a migration path. How do your applications interact with various security policies? Do you have specific business units relying on specific firewall traffic? How are various data centers being segmented by your security policies? Migrating a firewall will have a business-wide impact. You must ensure that this impact is absolutely minimal. You need to understand how your entire business model interacts with firewall and security technologies and if any piece of the business is forgotten technological headaches may be the least of your worries. Migrating a firewall doesn’t have to be hard, but it must be well planned. With so much information traversing the modern data center, it’s imperative to have complete visibility across the security architecture. Ultimately, with the right tools to help you plan, map and actually implement a firewall change process, and lots of cups of coffee, you can greatly reduce security migration complexity. #FirewallMigration Schedule a demo Related Articles 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call