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Firewalls are one of the most important cybersecurity solutions in the enterprise tech stack. They can also be the most demanding.... Firewall Change Management 20 Firewall Management Best Practices for Network Security Asher Benbenisty 2 min read Asher Benbenisty 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 10/29/23 Published Firewalls are one of the most important cybersecurity solutions in the enterprise tech stack. They can also be the most demanding. Firewall management is one of the most time-consuming tasks that security teams and network administrators regularly perform. The more complex and time-consuming a task is, the easier it is for mistakes to creep in. Few organizations have established secure network workflows that include comprehensive firewall change management plans and standardized firewall best practices. This makes implementing policy changes and optimizing firewall performance riskier than it needs to be. According to the 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, security misconfigurations are responsible for one out of every ten data breaches. ( * ) This includes everything from undetected exceptions in the firewall rule base to outright policy violations by IT security teams. It includes bad firewall configuration changes, routing issues, and non-compliance with access control policies. Security management leaders need to pay close attention to the way their teams update firewall rules, manipulate firewall logs, and establish audit trails. Organizations that clean up their firewall management policies will be better equipped to automate policy enforcement, troubleshooting, and firewall migration. 20 Firewall Management Best Practices Right Now 1. Understand how you arrived at your current firewall policies: Most security leaders inherit someone else’s cybersecurity tech stack the moment they accept the job. One of the first challenges is discovering the network and cataloging connected assets. Instead of simply mapping network architecture and cataloging assets, go deeper. Try to understand the reasoning behind the current rule set. What cyber threats and vulnerabilities was the organization’s previous security leader preparing for? What has changed since then? 2. Implement multiple firewall layers: Layer your defenses by using multiple types of firewalls to create a robust security posture. Configure firewalls to address specific malware risks and cyberattacks according to the risk profile of individual private networks and subnetworks in your environment. This might require adding new firewall solutions, or adding new rules to existing ones. You may need to deploy and manage perimeter, internal, and application-level firewalls separately, and centralize control over them using a firewall management tool. 3. Regularly update firewall rules: Review and update firewall rules regularly to ensure they align with your organization’s needs. Remove outdated or unnecessary rules to reduce potential attack surfaces. Pay special attention to areas where firewall rules may overlap. Certain apps and interfaces may be protected by multiple firewalls with conflicting rules. At best, this reduces the efficiency of your firewall fleet. At worst, it can introduce security vulnerabilities that enable attackers to bypass firewall rules. 4. Apply the principle of least privilege: Apply the principle of least privilege when creating firewall rules . Only grant access to resources that are necessary for specific roles or functions. Remember to remove access from users who no longer need it. This is difficult to achieve with simple firewall tools. You may need policies that can follow users and network assets even as their IP addresses change. Next-generation firewalls are capable of enforcing identity-based policies like this. If your organization’s firewall configuration is managed by an outside firm, that doesn’t mean it automatically applies this principle correctly. Take time to review your policies and ensure no users have unjustified access to critical network resources. . 5. Use network segmentation to build a multi-layered defense: Use network segmentation to isolate different parts of your network. This will make it easier to build and enforce policies that apply the principle of least privilege. If attackers compromise one segment of the network, you can easily isolate that segment and keep the rest secure. Pay close attention to the inbound and outbound traffic flows. Some network segments need to accept flows going in both directions, but many do not. Properly segmented networks deny network traffic traveling along unnecessary routes. You may even decide to build two entirely separate networks – one for normal operations and one for management purposes. If the networks are served by different ISPs, an attack against one may not lead to an attack against the other. Administrators may be able to use the other network to thwart an active cyberattack. 6. Log and monitor firewall activity: Enable firewall logging and regularly review logs for suspicious activities. Implement automated alerts for critical events. Make sure you store firewall logs in an accessible low-cost storage space while still retaining easy access to them when needed. You should be able to pull records like source IP addresses on an as-needed basis. Consider implementing a more comprehensive security information and event management (SIEM) platform. This allows you to capture and analyze log data from throughout your organization in a single place. Analysts can detect and respond to threats more effectively in a SIEM-enabled environment. Consider enabling logging on all permit/deny rules. This will provide you with evidence of network intrusion and help with troubleshooting. It also allows you to use automated tools to optimize firewall configuration based on historical traffic. 7. Regularly test and audit firewall performance: Conduct regular security assessments and penetration tests to identify vulnerabilities. Perform security audits to ensure firewall configurations are in compliance with your organization’s policies. Make sure to preview the results of any changes you plan on making to your organization’s firewall rules. This can be a very complex and time-consuming task. Growing organizations will quickly run out of time and resources to effectively test firewall configuration changes over time. Consider using a firewall change management platform to automate the process. 8. Patch and update firewall software frequently: Keep firewall firmware and software up to date with security patches. Vulnerabilities in outdated software can be exploited, and many hackers actively read update changelogs looking for new exploits. Even a few days’ delay can be enough for enterprising cybercriminals to launch an attack. Like most software updates, firewall updates may cause compatibility issues. Consider implementing a firewall management tool that allows you to preview changes and proactively troubleshoot compatibility issues before downloading updates. 9. Make sure you have a reliable backup configuration: Regularly backup firewall configurations. This ensures you can quickly restore settings in case of a failure or compromise. If attackers exploit a vulnerability that allows them to disable your firewall system, restoring an earlier version may be the fastest way to remediate the attack. When scheduling backups, pay special attention to Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO). RPO is the amount of time you can afford to let pass between backups. RTO is the amount of time it takes to fully restore the compromised system. 10. Deploy a structured change management process: Implement a rigorous change management process for firewall rule modifications. Instead of allowing network administrators and IT security teams to enact ad-hoc changes, establish a proper approval process that includes documenting all changes implemented. This can slow down the process of implementing firewall policy changes and enforcing new rules. However, it makes it much easier to analyze firewall performance over time and generate audit trails after attacks occur. Organizations that automate the process can enjoy both well-documented changes and rapid implementation. 11. Implement intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS): Use IDPS in conjunction with firewalls to detect and prevent suspicious or malicious traffic. IDPS works in conjunction with properly configured firewalls to improve enterprise-wide security and enable security teams to detect malicious behavior. Some NGFW solutions include built-in intrusion and detection features as part of their advanced firewall technology. This gives security leaders the ability to leverage both prevention and detection-based security from a single device. 12. Invest in user training and awareness: Train employees on safe browsing habits and educate them about the importance of firewall security. Make sure they understand the cyber threats that firewalls are designed to keep out, and how firewall rules contribute to their own security and safety. Most firewalls can’t prevent attacks that exploit employee negligence. Use firewall training to cultivate a security-oriented office culture that keeps employees vigilant against identity theft , phishing attacks, social engineering, and other cyberattack vectors. Encourage employees to report unusual behavior to IT security team members even if they don’t suspect an attack is underway. 13. Configure firewalls for redundancy and high availability: Design your network with redundancy and failover mechanisms to ensure continuous protection in case of hardware or software failures. Multiple firewalls can work together to seamlessly take over when one goes offline, making it much harder for attackers to capitalize on firewall downtime. Designate high availability firewalls – or firewall clusters – to handle high volume traffic subject to a wide range of security threats. Public-facing servers handling high amounts of inbound traffic typically need extra protection compared to internal assets. Rule-based traffic counters can provide valuable insight into which rules activate the most often. This can help prioritize the most important rules in high-volume usage scenarios. 14. Develop a comprehensive incident response plan: Develop and regularly update an incident response plan that includes firewall-specific procedures for handling security incidents. Plan for multiple different scenarios and run drills to make sure your team is prepared to respond to the real thing when it comes. Consider using security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) solutions to create and run automatic incident response playbooks. These playbooks can execute with a single click, instantly engaging additional protections in response to security threats when detected. Be ready for employees and leaders to scrutinize firewall deployments when incidents occur. It’s not always clear whether the source of the issue was the firewall or not. Get ahead of the problem by using a packet analyzer to find out if firewall misconfiguration led to the incident or not early on. 15. Stay ahead of compliance and security regulations: Stay compliant with relevant industry regulations and standards, such as GDPR , HIPAA, or PCI DSS , which may have specific firewall requirements. Be aware of changes and updates to regulatory compliance needs. In an acquisition-oriented enterprise environment, managing compliance can be very difficult. Consider implementing a firewall management platform that provides a centralized view of your entire network environment so you can quickly identify underprotected networks. 16. Don’t forget about documentation: Maintain detailed documentation of firewall configurations, network diagrams, and security policies for reference and auditing purposes. Keep these documents up-to-date so that new and existing team members can use them for reference whenever they need to interact with the organization’s firewall solutions. Network administrators and IT security team members aren’t always the most conscientious documentation creators. Consider automating the process and designating a special role for maintaining and updating firewall documentation throughout the organization. 17. Regularly review and improve firewall performance: Continuously evaluate and improve your firewall management practices based on evolving threats and changing business needs. Formalize an approach to reviewing, updating, and enforcing new rules using data gathered by your current deployment. This process requires the ability to preview policy changes and create complex “what-if” scenarios. Without a powerful firewall change management platform in place, manually conducting this research may be very difficult. Consider using automation to optimize firewall performance over time. 18. Deploy comprehensive backup connectivity: In case of a network failure, ensure there’s a backup connectivity plan in place to maintain essential services. Make sure the plan includes business continuity solutions for mission-critical services as well as security controls that maintain compliance. Consider multiple disaster scenarios that could impact business continuity. Security professionals typically focus on cyberattacks, but power outages, floods, earthquakes, and other natural phenomena can just as easily lead to data loss. Opportunistic hackers may take advantage of these events to strike when they think the organization’s guard is down. 19. Make sure secure remote access is guaranteed: If remote access to your network is required, use secure methods like VPNs and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for added protection. Make sure your firewall policies reflect the organization’s remote-enabled capabilities, and provide a secure environment for remote users to operate in. Consider implementing NGFW solutions that can reliably identify and manage inbound VPN connections without triggering false positives. Be especially wary of firewall rules that automatically deny connections without conducting deeper analysis to find out whether it was for legitimate user access. 20. Use group objects to simplify firewall rules: Your firewall analyzer allows you to create general rules and apply them to group objects, applying the rule to any asset in the group. This allows you to use the same rule set for similar policies impacting different network segments. You can even create a global policy that applies to the whole network and then refine that policy further as you go through each subnetwork. Be careful about nesting object groups inside one another. This might look like clean firewall management, but it can also create problems when the organization grows, and it can complicate change management. You may end up enforcing contradictory rules if your documentation practices can’t keep up. 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

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Leader in network security management solutions reports strong year-over-year product revenue growth of 43% in Q4 2019 and 26% in full year 2019 AlgoSec Celebrates Record Quarter in Q4 2019 and Another Record Year of Strong Growth and Profitability in 2019 Leader in network security management solutions reports strong year-over-year product revenue growth of 43% in Q4 2019 and 26% in full year 2019 February 18, 2020 Speak to one of our experts RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., Feb. 18, 2020 – AlgoSec , the leading provider of business-driven network security management solutions, has announced strong growth in product revenues and total revenues in 2019. For the full year, AlgoSec reported a profitable 2019 with: 26% increase in product revenues over 2018 17% increase in total revenues over 2018 Close to 100 new customers won, many of which were competitive wins, including several actual replacements of products from AlgoSec’s direct competitors. The company also concluded its best-ever quarter to date in Q4 2019: 43% increase in product revenues compared to Q4 2018 27% increase in total revenues compared to Q4 2018 Over 50 open positions for immediate hiring “2019 was a very successful year across every aspect of our business,” said Yuval Baron, AlgoSec Chief Executive Officer. “We exceeded our sales targets, strengthened cashflow and won nearly 100 new customers with several million dollar-plus contracts. In addition, Cisco added AlgoSec to its Global Price List, we strengthened our channel partnerships globally, and expanded our senior management team. The demand for our solutions is accelerating as we become increasingly mission-critical to our customers’ business.” Solution innovations AlgoSec introduced several key innovations in 2019 to help enterprise customers address their network security management challenges. These include: The launch of CloudFlow, a cloud-focused security solution that delivers comprehensive visibility and management of all the security control layers across enterprise multi-cloud and hybrid estates. The latest A30 release of AlgoSec’s core Network Security Management Suite which features new AppViz and AppChange add-ons, bringing unsurpassed application visibility and network auto-discovery capabilities, and extending support for Cisco ACI A new extension to the IBM® Resilient® Incident Response Platform, enabling organizations to tie security incidents and attacks directly to relevant business processes AlgoSec’s Security Management Suite was chosen as the only SC Labs ‘Best Buy’ solution in 2019’s SC Magazine Risk Management Group Test , and secured a perfect 5 out of 5 rating in each of the 6 categories. AlgoSec was also the highest-ranked solution in its category on IT Central Station , which features enterprise product reviews from real users, based on the highest ratings, most reviews, and most views in its product segment. New industry partnerships AlgoSec’s integrated solution for Cisco ACI and security devices is now available on Cisco’s Global Price List, enabling Cisco’s direct and channel sales network to offer AlgoSec solutions to customers. Announced in November 2019, the integrated solution also enables mutual customers to realize the full potential of intent-based Data Centers. Strengthened executive management team AlgoSec further expanded its executive team in 2019, with Chris Thomas joining in the role of Chief Revenue Officer to lead global revenue-generation activities, Ilan Erez appointed as Chief Financial Officer and General Manager to help drive multi-faceted business growth, and Zvika Menachemi as VP of Research & Development to help advance the development of AlgoSec’s network and Cloud Security Policy Management Solutions. About AlgoSec The leading provider of business-driven network security management solutions, AlgoSec helps the world’s largest organizations align security with their mission-critical business processes. With AlgoSec, users can discover, map and migrate business application connectivity, proactively analyze risk from the business perspective, tie cyber-attacks to business processes and intelligently automate network security changes with zero touch – across their cloud, SDN and on-premise networks. Over 1,800 enterprises , including 20 of the Fortune 50, have utilized AlgoSec’s solutions to make their organizations more agile, more secure and more compliant – all the time. Since 2005, AlgoSec has shown its commitment to customer satisfaction with the industry’s only money-back guarantee . All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners. *** Media Contacts:Tsippi [email protected]

Enterprise Guide To Cloud Security 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

Compared to on-premises data storage, cloud computing comes with a lot of benefits. On-demand access to company data, flexibility, and... Cloud Security What is a Cloud Security Assessment? (and How to Perform One) Rony Moshkovich 2 min read Rony Moshkovich 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 7/12/23 Published Compared to on-premises data storage, cloud computing comes with a lot of benefits. On-demand access to company data, flexibility, and fast collaboration are just a few. But along with these advantages come increased security risks. To manage them, companies should invest in regular cloud security assessments. What Is a Cloud Security Risk Assessment? A cloud security assessment evaluates the potential vulnerabilities of an organization’s cloud environment. These assessments are essential to mitigate risks and ensure the continued security of cloud-based systems. By looking at cloud applications, services, and data, companies can better understand the biggest threats to their cloud environment. By managing these threats, businesses can avoid costly workflow interruptions. A security assessment can be done by an organization’s internal security team or by an outside security expert. This can happen one time only, or it can be done regularly as part of an organization’s overall cybersecurity plan. How Do Cloud Security Risk Assessments Protect Your Business? Cloud-based systems and services are an essential part of most businesses nowadays. Unfortunately, what makes them convenient is also what makes them vulnerable to security threats. A cloud security risk assessment helps organizations find out what might go wrong and prevent it from happening. It also helps with prioritizing and managing the most serious issues before they become full-on data breaches. One way assessments do this is by identifying misconfigurations. Cloud misconfigurations are behind many security breaches. They result from errors introduced by network engineers working on early cloud systems. A cloud security assessment earmarks these and other outmoded security features for repair. What’s more, cloud security assessments identify third-party risks from APIs or plugins. When your company identifies risks and manages permissions, you keep your cloud environment safe. By mitigating third-party risks, you can still benefit from outside vendors. Of course, none of this information is valuable without employee education. Employees need to know about risks and how to stop them; this is the best way to reduce the number of security incidents caused by human error or carelessness. To put it simply, a cloud security assessment helps your business run smoothly. When you know the risks your company faces and can manage them, you reduce the impact of security-related incidents. That means you can recover faster and get back to work sooner. 7 Benefits of Cloud Security Risk Assessments Cloud security risk assessments provide lots of benefits. They can help you: Improve cloud security posture . Understanding the ins and outs of a cloud-based system helps organizations plan better. For example, they can modify their security budget or improve their risk management strategy based on the results. Uncover security vulnerabilities . Cloud security assessments pinpoint weak spots. This includes misconfigurations , access control issues, and missing multi-factor authentications (MFAs). Once identified, organizations can fix the issues and avoid security breaches. Develop a more secure multi-cloud environment . Most organizations use multiple cloud platforms. Usually, this involves private or public clouds or a combination of both. This is ideal from a financial and agility perspective. But every extra layer in a cloud environment introduces potential risks. A cloud security assessment is essential in identifying these cross-cloud threats. Achieve compliance with industry standards and regulatory bodies . Ensuring compliance with GDPR, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA helps protect organizations from millions of dollars of potential fines . Manage your reputation. A sensitive data leak or other cloud security incident damages a company’s reputation. Think of companies like Target, Facebook, and LinkedIn. All have faced backlash after security breaches . Conducting cloud security assessments shows that organizations value customer and stakeholder privacy. Detect past threats . A cloud security assessment looks for things that might be wrong with the way your cloud system is set up. It can also help you find out if there have been any past security problems. By doing this, you can see if someone has tried to tamper with the security of your cloud system in the past, which could signal a bigger problem. Increase efficiency . Cloud security assessments show you which security measures are working and which aren’t. By getting rid of security tools that aren’t needed, employees have more time to work on other tasks. Cost savings . The most compelling reason to run a cloud security assessment is that it helps save money. Cost savings come from eliminating unnecessary security measures and from missed work time due to breaches. What Risks Do Cloud Security Assessments Look For? Cloud security assessments focus on six areas to identify security vulnerabilities in your cloud infrastructure: overall security posture, access control and management, incident management, data protection, network security, and risk management and compliance. Some specific risks cloud security assessments look for include: Cloud Misconfigurations Misconfigurations are one of the most common threats to overall security posture. In fact, McAfee’s enterprise security study found that enterprises experience 3,500 security incidents per month because of misconfigurations. From improperly stored passwords to insecure automated backups, misconfiguration issues are everywhere. Because they’re so common, fixing this issue alone can reduce the risk of a security breach by up to 80%, according to Gartner . Access Control and Management Problems This assessment also highlights ineffective access control and management. One way it does this is by identifying excessive network permissions. Without the proper guardrails (like data segmentation) in place, an organization’s attack surface is greater. Plus, its data is at risk from internal and external threats. If an employee has too much access to a company’s network, they might accidentally delete or change important information. This could cause unintended system problems. Additionally, if hackers get access to the company’s network, they could easily steal important data. Cloud security assessments also look at credentials as part of user account management. A system that uses only static credentials for users or cloud workloads is a system at risk. Without multifactor authentication (MFA) in place, hackers can gain access to your system and expose your data. Improper Incident Management and Logging When it comes to incident management, a cloud security assessment can reveal insufficient or improper logging — problems that make detecting malicious activities more difficult. Left unchecked, the damage is more severe, making recovery more time-consuming and expensive. Insufficient Data and Network Security Data protection and network security go hand in hand. Without proper network controls in place (for example firewalls and intrusion detection), data in the cloud is vulnerable to attack. A cloud security assessment can identify gaps in both areas. Based on the results of a cloud security assessment, a company can make a risk management plan to help them react as quickly and effectively as possible in the event of an attack. The last aspect of cloud security the assessment looks at is compliance with industry standards. 7 Steps To Perform a Cloud Security Assessment The main components of cloud security assessments include: Identifying your cloud-based assets, discovering vulnerabilities through testing, generating recommendations, and retesting once the issues have been addressed. The steps to performing a cloud security assessment are as follows: Step One: Define the project Get a picture of your cloud environment. Look at your cloud service providers (CSPs), third-party apps, and current security tools. First, decide which parts of your system will be evaluated. Next, look at the type of data you’re handling or storing. Then consider the regulations your business must follow. Step Two: Identify potential threats Look at both internal and external threats to your cloud-based system. This could include endpoint security, misconfigurations, access control issues, data breaches, and more. Then figure out how likely each type of attack is. Finally, determine what impact each attack would have on your business operations. Step Three: Examine your current security system Look for vulnerabilities in your existing cloud security. In particular, pay attention to access controls, encryption, and network security. Step Four: Test Penetration testing, port scanners, and vulnerability scanners are used to find weaknesses in your cloud environment that were missed during the original risk assessment. Step Five: Analyze Look at the results and determine which weaknesses need immediate attention. Deal with the issues that will have the biggest impact on your business first. Then, focus on the issues most likely to occur. Finish by handling lower-priority threats. Step Six: Develop an action plan Come up with a time-bound remediation plan. This plan should spell out how your organization will deal with each security vulnerability. Assign roles and responsibilities as part of your incident response program. Depending on the results, this could include updating firewalls, monitoring traffic logs, and limiting access control. Step Seven: Maintain Cloud security assessments can be done as a one-off, but it’s much better to monitor your systems regularly. Frequent monitoring improves your organization’s threat intelligence. It also helps you identify and respond to new threats in real time. Getting Help With Your Cloud Security Assessment Cloud security assessment tools are used to identify vulnerabilities in a cloud infrastructure which could lead to data loss or compromise by attackers. As an agentless cloud security posture management (CSPM) tool , Prevasio helps identify and fix security threats across all your cloud assets in minutes. Our deep cloud scan checks for security weaknesses, malware, and compliance. This helps ensure that your company’s cloud environment is protected against potential risks. But any CSPM can do that . Prevasio is the only solution that provides container security dynamic behavior analysis. Our technology spots hidden backdoors in your container environments. It also identifies supply chain attack risks. Paired with our container security static analysis for vulnerabilities and malware, your containers will never be safer. Our CSPM works across multi-cloud, multi-accounts, cloud-native services , and cloud assets. Whether you’re using Microsoft Azure, S3 buckets in AWS, or Cosmos DB in GCP, Prevasio is the security system your company has been looking for. But we do more than identify security threats. We increase your team’s efficiency. How? By providing a prioritized list of cloud risks ranked according to CIS benchmarks. That means no more uncertainty about what needs to get done. Our easy-to-understand results help your team concentrate on the most important things. This saves time and money by reducing the need for extra administrative work. A Final Word on Cloud Security Assessments Performing regular cloud security assessments helps your business spot security issues before they become major problems. When you reinforce your security controls and define your incident response plan, you make your organization more efficient. Plus, you keep things going even when issues arise. Put together, these proactive measures can save you money. Sign up today and see how Prevasio can help your team ! FAQs About Cloud Security Assessments What are the four areas of cloud security? The four pillars of cloud security are data availability, data confidentiality, data integrity, and regulatory compliance. What is included in a security assessment? Cloud security assessments include: Identifying your cloud-based assets, discovering vulnerabilities through testing, generating recommendations, and retesting once the issues have been addressed. 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

The aim of this post is to provide a very high-level illustration of the DNS Tunneling method used in the SolarWinds supply chain attack.... Cloud Security DNS Tunneling In The SolarWinds Supply Chain Attack Rony Moshkovich 2 min read Rony Moshkovich 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 12/23/20 Published The aim of this post is to provide a very high-level illustration of the DNS Tunneling method used in the SolarWinds supply chain attack . An Attacker compromises SolarWinds company and trojanizes a DLL that belongs to its software. Some of the customers receive the malicious DLL as an update for the SolarWinds Orion software. “Corporation XYZ” receives the malicious and digitally signed DLL via update. SolarWinds Orion software loads the malicious DLL as a plugin. Once activated, the DLL reads a local domain name “local.corp-xyz.com” (a fictious name). The malware encrypts the local domain name and adds it to a long domain name. The long domain name is queried with a DNS server (can be tapped by a passive DNS sensor). The recursive DNS server is not authorized to resolve avsvmcloud[.]com, so it forwards the request. An attacker-controlled authoritative DNS server resolves the request with a wildcard A record. The Attacker checks the victim’s name, then adds a CNAME record for the victim’s domain name. The new CNAME record resolves the long domain name into an IP of an HTTP-based C2 server. The malicious DLL downloads and executes the 2nd stage malware (TearDrop, Cobalt Strike Beacon). A Threat Researcher accesses the passive DNS (pDNS) records. One of the long domain names from the pDNS records is decrypted back into “local.corp-xyz.com”. The Researcher deducts that the decrypted local domain name belongs to “Corporation XYZ”. 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

Prof. Avishai Wool, AlgoSec co-founder and CTO, stresses the importance of getting the often-overlooked function of managing network... Professor Wool Bridging Network Security Gaps with Better Network Object Management Prof. Avishai Wool 2 min read Prof. Avishai Wool 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 4/13/22 Published Prof. Avishai Wool, AlgoSec co-founder and CTO, stresses the importance of getting the often-overlooked function of managing network objects right, particularly in hybrid or multi-vendor environments Using network traffic filtering solutions from multiple vendors makes network object management much more challenging. Each vendor has its own management platform, which often forces network security admins to define objects multiple times, resulting in a counter effect. First and foremost, this can be an inefficient use of valuable resources from a workload bottlenecking perspective. Secondly, it creates a lack of naming consistency and introduces a myriad of unexpected errors, leading to security flaws and connectivity problems. This can be particularly applicable when a new change request is made. With these unique challenges at play, it begs the question: Are businesses doing enough to ensure their network objects are synchronized in both legacy and greenfield environments? What is network object management? At its most basic, the management of network objects refers to how we name and define “objects” within a network. These objects can be servers, IP addresses, or groups of simpler objects. Since these objects are subsequently used in network security policies, it is imperative to simultaneously apply a given rule to an object or object group. On its own, that’s a relatively straightforward method of organizing the security policy. But over time, as organizations reach scale, they often end up with large quantities of network objects in the tens of thousands, which typically lead to critical mistakes. Hybrid or multi-vendor networks Let’s take name duplication as an example. Duplication on its own is bad enough due to the wasted resource, but what’s worse is when two copies of the same name have two distinctly different definitions. Let’s say we have a group of database servers in Environment X containing three IP addresses. This group is allocated a name, say “DBs”. That name is then used to define a group of database servers in Environment Y containing only two IP addresses because someone forgot to add in the third. In this example, the security policy rule using the name DBs would look absolutely fine to even a well-trained eye, because the names and definitions it contained would seem identical. But the problem lies in what appears below the surface: one of these groups would only apply to two IP addresses rather than three. As in this case, minor discrepancies are commonplace and can quickly spiral into more significant security issues if not dealt with in the utmost time-sensitive manner. It’s important to remember that accuracy is the name in this game. If a business is 100% accurate in the way it handles network object management, then it has the potential to be 100% efficient. The Bottom Line The security and efficiency of hybrid multi-vendor environments depend on an organization’s digital hygiene and network housekeeping. The naming and management of network objects aren’t particularly glamorous tasks. Having said that, everything from compliance and automation to security and scalability will be far more seamless and risk averse if taken care of correctly. To learn more about network object management and why it’s arguably more important now than ever before, watch our webcast on the subject or read more in our resource hub . 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

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Survey finds that 58% of respondents are concerned about security in the cloud, while misconfigurations are one of the leading causes of breaches and outages as public cloud adoption doubles over past two years Cloud Security Alliance Releases Latest Survey Report on State of Cloud Security Concerns, Challenges, and Incidents Survey finds that 58% of respondents are concerned about security in the cloud, while misconfigurations are one of the leading causes of breaches and outages as public cloud adoption doubles over past two years March 30, 2021 Speak to one of our experts SEATTLE – March 30, 2021 – The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, and AlgoSec , a leading provider of business-driven network and cloud security management solutions, today announced the results of a new study titled, “ State of Cloud Security Concerns, Challenges, and Incidents .” The survey, which queried nearly 1,900 IT and security professionals from a variety of organization sizes and locations, sought to gain deeper insight into the complex cloud environment that continues to emerge and that has only grown more complex since the onset of the pandemic. The survey found that over half of organizations are running 41 percent or more of their workloads in public clouds, compared to just one-quarter in 2019. In 2021, 63 percent of respondents expect to be running 41 percent or more of their workloads in public cloud, indicating that adoption of public cloud will only continue. Sixty-two percent of respondents use more than one cloud provider, and the diversity of production workloads (e.g. container platforms, virtual machines) is also expected to increase. Key findings include: Security tops concerns with cloud projects : Respondents’ leading concerns over cloud adoption were network security (58%), a lack of cloud expertise (47%), migrating workloads to the cloud (44%), and insufficient staff to manage cloud environments (32%). It’s notable that a total of 79 percent of respondents reported staff-related issues, highlighting that organizations are struggling with handling cloud deployments and a largely remote workforce. Cloud issues and misconfigurations are leading causes of breaches and outages : Eleven percent of respondents reported a cloud security incident in the past year with the three most common causes being cloud provider issues (26%), security misconfigurations (22%), and attacks such as denial of service exploits (20%). When asked about the impact of their most disruptive cloud outages, 24 percent said it took up to 3 hours to restore operations, and for 26 percent it took more than half a day. Nearly one-third still manage cloud security manually : Fifty-two percent of respondents stated they use cloud-native tools to manage security as part of their application orchestration process, and 50 percent reported using orchestration and configuration management tools such as Ansible, Chef and Puppet. Twenty-nine percent said they use manual processes to manage cloud security. Who controls cloud security is not clear-cut : Thirty-five percent of respondents said their security operations team managed cloud security, followed by the cloud team (18%), and IT operations (16%). Other teams such as network operations, DevOps and application owners all fell below 10 percent, showing confusion over exactly who owns public cloud security. “The use of cloud services has continued to increase over the past decade. Particularly now, in the wake of the COVID-19 public health crisis. With organizations struggling to address a largely remote workforce, many enterprises’ digital transformations have been accelerated to enable employees to work from home,” said Hillary Baron, lead author and research analyst, Cloud Security Alliance. “As an ever-more complex cloud environment continues to evolve, the need for supplementary security tools to improve public cloud security will, as well.” “In the face of complex environments, a dearth of security staff, and an overall lack of cloud knowledge, organizations are turning to security tools that can help supplement their workforce. Three of the top four benefits organizations look for in security management tools involve proactive detection of risks and automation. These types of tools can supplement the challenges many organizations are experiencing with lack of expertise (47%) and staff (32%), as well as improve visibility as they move toward an ever-changing cloud environment,” said Jade Kahn, AlgoSec Chief Marketing Officer.AlgoSec commissioned the survey to add to the industry’s knowledge about hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud security. Sponsors of CSA research are CSA Corporate Members, who support the findings of the research project but have no added influence on content development nor editing rights. The report and its findings are vendor-agnostic and allow for global participation. Download the free eBook now. About Cloud Security Alliance The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, training, certification, events, and products. CSA’s activities, knowledge, and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud — from providers and customers to governments, entrepreneurs, and the assurance industry — and provide a forum through which different parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org , and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa. About AlgoSec The leading provider of business-driven network security management solutions, AlgoSec helps the world’s largest organizations align security with their mission-critical business processes. With AlgoSec, users can discover, map and migrate business application connectivity, proactively analyze risk from the business perspective, tie cyber-attacks to business processes and intelligently automate network security changes with zero touch – across their cloud, SDN and on-premise networks. Over 1,800 enterprises, including 20 of the Fortune 50, have utilized AlgoSec’s solutions to make their organizations more agile, more secure and more compliant – all the time. Since 2005, AlgoSec has shown its commitment to customer satisfaction with the industry’s only money-back guarantee. www.algosec.com

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Learn how automation can simplify the process of rule recertification and help determine which rules are still necessary Webinars Play by the rules: Automation for simplified rule recertification As time goes by, once effective firewall rules can become outdated. This results in bloated security policies which can slow down application delivery. Therefore, best practice and compliance requirements calls for rule recertification at least once per year. While rule recertification can be done manually by going through the comments fields of every rule, this is a tedious process which is also subject to the weaknesses of human error. Automation can simplify the process and help determine which rules are still necessary, if done right. Join security experts Asher Benbenisty and Tsippi Dach to learn about: Rule recertification as part of application delivery pipeline The importance of recertifying rules regularly Methods used for rule recertification The business application approach for rule recertification October 27, 2021 Tsippi Dach Director of marketing communications Asher Benbenisty Director of product marketing Relevant resources AlgoSec AppViz – Rule Recertification Watch Video Changing the rules without risk: mapping firewall rules to business applications 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

Learn about the essentials of enterprise cloud security, including its importance, challenges, functionality, solutions, and key pillars. What is cloud security pillars trends and strategies Select a size Which network Can AlgoSec be used for continuous compliance monitoring? Yes, AlgoSec supports continuous compliance monitoring. As organizations adapt their security policies to meet emerging threats and address new vulnerabilities, they must constantly verify these changes against the compliance frameworks they subscribe to. AlgoSec can generate risk assessment reports and conduct internal audits on-demand, allowing compliance officers to monitor compliance performance in real-time. Security professionals can also use AlgoSec to preview and simulate proposed changes to the organization’s security policies. This gives compliance officers a valuable degree of lead-time before planned changes impact regulatory guidelines and allows for continuous real-time monitoring. What is cloud security? Pillars, trends, and strategies Learn about the essentials of enterprise cloud security, including its importance, challenges, functionality, solutions, and key pillars. What is cloud security? Cloud security (or cloud-native security) encompasses the strategies, tools, processes, and teams that seek to fortify enterprise cloud environments. Cloud security strategies focus on securing cloud networks, infrastructure, systems, applications, and data from internal security risks, such as vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, as well as from external risks like cyberattacks. What are today’s top cloud security trends? Companies today are adopting cloud technologies at scale and with diverse deployment architectures. Some opt for public cloud services from vendors like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure, while others invest in a dedicated private cloud infrastructure. Some organizations procure services from a single vendor, whereas others integrate components in multi-cloud or hybrid cloud strategies. The cloud security market is forecast to reach nearly $63 billion by 2028. This reflects the current state of widespread cloud adoption, the proliferation of cloud computing services, and a constant influx of new cloud security trends. Why are cloud security strategies important? Cloud security is one of the most critical pillars of any modern enterprise. Here’s why top-notch cloud security strategies are a strategic imperative: Widespread cloud adoption: Cloud computing is no longer a wishlist item but a necessity. Gartner research forecasts that companies will collectively spend more than $1 trillion on cloud investments by 2027. Sophisticated cloud threat landscape: Mission-critical cloud networks and infrastructure are under relentless siege from adversaries. According to IBM’s latest report , data breaches are now costing companies a mean value of $4.4 million. Complex compliance requirements: Enterprises must ensure that their cloud environments adhere to standards like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. Cloud security and compliance are inextricably linked, so reinforcing one will benefit the other. Data privacy expectations: Cloud networks and infrastructure port and store vast volumes of sensitive data, from customer information to business secrets. Keeping this data secure is essentia l to avoid legal, financial, and reputational headaches. Future-proofing IT environments: With a robust cloud security posture, organizations can dynamically scale their cloud networks and infrastructure based on strategic pivots, emerging needs, and cloud security trends. How does cloud-native security work? Cloud security involves multiple moving parts—from advanced tools and technical controls to organizational culture and security best practices. Achieving holistic cloud security mandates three crucial components: Continuously monitoring cloud networks and infrastructure to detect anomalies Proactively improving your cloud security posture by tightening access controls and remediating misconfigurations Establishing strategies for mitigation, e.g., incident response playbooks, to remediate threats How can companies ensure unified cloud security and untangle the complexities of securing complex cloud network architectures? Adopt cutting-edge cloud security solutions. First, let’s review an important aspect of using a third party in your cloud security endeavors. Understanding shared responsibility models Shared responsibility models are another intricacy of contemporary cloud security. Cloud provider security offerings aren’t typically all-encompassing. And the onus is on you to decode the shared responsibility model of your chosen cloud provider. In other words: What will they handle, and what will you be obliged to oversee? Also, don’t assume that two cloud providers have similar shared responsibility models. For instance, Google Cloud’s model is radically different from that of AWS, so make sure you go over the fine print for any provider carefully. Now, let’s turn back to what makes a cloud security solution cutting-edge. What is an ideal cloud-native security solution? A comprehensive cloud security suite should include the following tools and capabilities: Cloud security posture management (CSPM): Proactively optimize cloud security and compliance posture by remediating risks in order of criticality. Market snapshot: The CSPM industry has been growing at more than 15% since 2022. Cloud identity and entitlement management (CIEM): Support governance, security, and access controls across human and machine cloud identities; mitigate identity and access management (IAM) risks. Note: CIEM tools are basically the cloud variant of IAM solutions. Cloud workload protection platform (CWPP): Secure cloud workloads across multi-cloud and hybrid cloud setups; this is particularly useful across CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps workflows due to workload emphasis. Security information and event management (SIEM): Gather, correlate, and cross-analyze data from the entire IT ecosystem—from cloud networks to on-premises hardware and internet-of-things (IoT) devices. Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR): Integrate and coalesce previously disparate security tools, processes, and workflows to optimize threat detection and incident response capabilities. Data loss prevention (DLP): Detect instances of cloud data exfiltration, exposure, misuse, or compromise. Firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS): Monitor cloud network traffic and receive alerts for suspicious or anomalous traffic flows or behaviors. Network security policy management (NSPM): Automatically design, enforce, and maintain cloud network security and compliance policies. Micro-segmentation: Break down the cloud network into granular subsections, each with unique security policies, controls, and rule sets to prevent lateral movement and provide quick issue resolution. Note: Micro-segmentation lies at the heart of zero trust architecture. With the above features in mind, let’s move on to the security challenges they were built to battle. With the above features in mind, let’s move on to the security challenges they were built to battle. Cloud security challenges Cloud-native security is inherently complex, but the hurdles you face are compounded by myriad internal and external factors. Mapping complex architectures and attack surfaces Cloud environments are constantly shapeshifting and filled with dynamic, distributed, and ephemeral applications, data, and connectivity flows. Creating a topology of exploitable risks across this landscape is complicated. Mapping and visualizing cloud networks, particularly in labyrinthine hybrid architectures, is next to impossible without the right tools. Achieving robust governance Many companies find it challenging to effectively and holistically steward cloud applications, networks, data, and resources—especially in multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud setups. Navigating regulatory compliance Adding to the above hurdle, regulations can change—and new ones are popping up continuously. Busin esses have to keep up to avoid noncompliance penalties and legal entanglements. Uncovering shadow IT Cloud environments are perpetually in flux, which means certain resources can easily slip out of centralized management or view. Regaining control of these hidden, often risk-ridden resources is difficult. Remediating vulnerabilities and misconfigurations The volume of cloud vulnerabilities far exceeds most organizations’ resources. Companies must focus on prioritizing risks so that threats to mission-critical cloud resources are dealt with first. Battling evolving attack techniques Adversaries are employing sophisticated AI-driven tactics to design and scale their attacks. Against this backdrop of radical methods, many businesses are struggling to defend their cloud estates. Minimizing cloud costs Cloud security lapses can be pricey to resolve. If cloud security expenses get out of hand, this can undercut all of the cost benefits that cloud adoption promises. Balancing security and agility One of the cloud’s biggest selling points is its speed and dynamism. However, ineffective implementation of cloud security measures can potentially slow down operations and stall strategic and operational momentum. Having reviewed the critical hurdles to cloud security, what are the top strategies required to mitigate them and reinforce proper cloud security? The most critical cloud security pillars Cloud environments might be rife with risks, but a robust cloud security program that hinges on a powerful unified solution can help efficiently address those risks and maximize the cloud’s potential. Highlighted below are the key pillars of robust cloud security that the optimal solution will actively reinforce. Comprehensive visibility All the best cloud security strategies begin with full-stack visibility. This means end-to-end coverage and real-time insights across cloud networks, applications, data, policies, and connectivity flows. Data security In many ways, the answer to “what is cloud security” is simply “cloud-based data security.” Advanced controls and measures like encryption, anonymization, classification, and role-based access contro l (RBAC) all help safeguard sensitive data. Zero tr ust architecture (discussed below) is also ideal for robust data security. Robust identity and access management (IAM) Identity and access management (IAM) involves right-sizing entitlements and optimizing access controls across digital identities. With a top IAM tool, ideally integrated into a comprehensive cloud security platform, companies can fine-tune privileges across digital identities. This prevents unnecessary access to critical data and streamlines access to role-essential applications and assets. Policy and configuration management Well-oiled policy management is one of the strongest cloud security pillars. The cornerstone of optimized policy and configuration management is the ability to automate systems to design, manage, and monitor cloud policies and configurations. Automation also enables a tool to curb drift with minimal manual intervention and error. AI-driven automation and orchestration AI-driven automation is one of the most prevalent cloud security trends. This, coupled with orchestration, implements predefined and intricately choreographed security processes and workflows to detect and remediate threats with minimal human intervention. Zero trust architecture Zero trust architecture is a cornerstone of most cloud security strategies. Enterprises should adopt a network security approach based on the “never trust, always verify” philosophy, along with least privilege, just-in-time (JIT) access, micro-segmentation, and multi-factor authentication. Threat detection and response No matter how cloud security trends ebb and flow, businesses need to be prepared with a plan for threat detection and response. The primary goal here is real-time network and infrastructure threat monitoring. This should be supported by predefined and automated incident response protocols and playbooks to remediate cloud security events. DevSecOps DevSecOps is a framework where a security-centric component has been added to the DevOps meth odology. Since the cloud is used to expedite software pipelines, DevSecOps is crucial to ensure you don’t sacrifice security for speed. Supply chain risk management Mitigating third-party risks means complete visibility and proactive risk mitigation across third-party resources and dependencies. Within DevSecOps workflows, this includes vetting third-party code, components, and dependencies. Threat intelligence Threat intelligence should be a constant presence in your cloud-native security program. The key is to integrate tools like IAM and CSPM with internal and external threat data streams. The best way to maximize a unified cloud security platform is to integrate up-to-date threat data streams. The ripple effect of world-class threat intelligence is profound and will significantly transform your detection and response skills across cloud networks and infrastructure. AlgoSec: A cloud security powerhouse With a unified solution like AlgoSec, businesses can transform the cloud security conundrum into an opportunity to reinforce their cloud operations and drive value. AlgoSec focuses on the most crucial cloud security pillars: Full-stack visibility Automated policy management Comprehensive compliance controls App-centric model for application-heavy environments Crucially, AlgoSec unifies these non-negotiables into a single platform. From the AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise (ACE) platform to tools like AppViz , FireFlow , and Firewall Analyzer , AlgoSec is a cloud network fortress. Get a demo to see how AlgoSec can help you achieve optimal enterprise cloud security. Get the latest insights from the 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