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Learn how to keep firewall and network security policies audit-ready with ongoing rule review, change governance, evidence, and compliance monitoring Continuous compliance for firewall and network security policies ---- ------- Schedule a Demo Select a size ----- Get the latest insights from the experts Choose a better way to manage your network

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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 Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

Explore Algosec's customer success stories to see how organizations worldwide improve security, compliance, and efficiency with our solutions. Global Energy Group Streamlines Change Requests Process Organization Energy Group Industry Utilities & Energy Headquarters International Download case study Share Customer
success stories "Now we can do a firewall change in around one hour. Before, it took five days or more with 20 engineers. Today, we do the same job, but much quicker, with 4 people - resulting in happier customers,” says the Security Service Delivery Manager. “One of the best things you win in the end, is the cost. With 500 changes on a firewall a month, that’s significant.” IT Integrator Gets Faster Implementation of Firewall Changes – Leading to Greater Efficiency and Lower Costs BACKGROUND The company is the IT integrator for a large energy group, which offers low-carbon energy and services. The group’s purpose is to act to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral world, through reduced energy consumption and more environmentally friendly solutions, reconciling economic performance with a positive impact on people and the planet. The IT integrator of the group designs, implements and operates IT solutions for all its business units and provides applications and infrastructure services. It includes four “families” of services: Digital and IT Consulting, Digital Workplace, Cloud Infrastructures, and Network and Cybersecurity, and Agile business solutions. CHALLENGES This large group (with 170,000 employees) had a complex network with multiple elements in the firewall. With 240 firewall change requests and 500 changes a month, they needed an easier and faster way to manage these changes, ensuring their business applications functioned properly while maintaining their security posture. The main challenges were: Large network with lots of rules. Slow execution of change requests. Change requests were very labor intensive. SOLUTION With 500 monthly firewall changes, the customer was searching for a solution that provided: Faster implementation of firewall changes. Clear workflow and easier change management processes. Comprehensive firewall support. Visibility into their business applications and traffic flows. The client chose AlgoSec for its workflow solution, requiring a tool that would help the customer seamlessly submit the request and enable the engineer to implement the optimal changes to the firewall. They implemented the AlgoSec Security Policy Management Solution, made up of AlgoSec Horizon Security Analyzer, AlgoSec Horizon FireFlow, and AlgoSec Horizon AppViz and AppChange (formerly AlgoSec BusinessFlow). AlgoSec Horizon Security Analyzer ensures security and compliance by providing visibility and analysis into complex network security policies. AlgoSec Horizon FireFlow improves security and saves security staffs’ time by automating the entire security policy change process, eliminating manual errors, and reducing risk. AlgoSec Horizon AppViz provides critical security information regarding the firewalls and firewall rules supporting each connectivity flow by letting users discover, identify, and map business applications. AlgoSec AppChange empowers customers to make changes at the business application level, including application migrations, server deployment, and decommissioning projects. RESULTS “We do the job quicker, with less people. With 500 changes on a firewall a month, that’s significant. I recommend AlgoSec as it gives a quick solution for the request and analysis,” said the Security Service Delivery Manager. By using the AlgoSec Security Management Solution, the customer gained: Greater insight and oversight into their firewalls and other network devices. Identification of risky rules and other holes in their network security policy. Easier cleanup process due to greater visibility. 80% reduction in manpower. Faster implementation of policy changes – from five days to one hour. Schedule time with one of our experts

Manage multi-cloud security with effective policy and configuration strategies to ensure compliance, optimize performance, and protect your network infrastructure. Multi-Cloud Security Network Policy and Configuration Management Overview Taking advantage of cost and performance improvements, enterprises are extending their networks far beyond the traditional perimeter to incorporate multiple public and private clouds. Migration of applications to clouds has become an indispensable strategy for enterprises as clouds deliver many financial, performance and other advantages. Public clouds have become part of the computing fabric of millions of enterprises. Schedule a Demo Introduction Digitally transforming their businesses with numerous new applications, mobility and big data, enterprises are rapidly expanding their networks. Taking advantage of cost and performance improvements, enterprise networks extend way beyond the traditional perimeter and now incorporate software-defined networks (SDN), micro-segmentation and multiple clouds. The typical medium or large enterprise now manages a dynamic heterogeneous network that includes: Data centers Public clouds Private clouds Traditional network security policy management within the data center has always been challenging enough. Multiple firewalls from different vendors, thousands of rules and hundreds of weekly or monthly changes call for their own careful management and automation. But as the network estate becomes even wider and more complex, coherent security policy now has to extend across the entire heterogeneous network that includes multiple public clouds (e.g., AWS, MS Azure, Google Cloud Platform), each with its own language and methods. In the world of multi-cloud deployments, the need for cloud vendor-agnostic, holistic security policy automation becomes essential. In this paper, we will discuss the major security policy issues that concern enterprises as they expand their networks across multiple clouds. We will explain how AlgoSec delivers a comprehensive, unified, vendor-agnostic automation solution that enables security managers to reduce risk, improve compliance and boost efficiency across the heterogeneous network including multi-clouds. Schedule a Demo Where the data center meets the cloud In the data center, AlgoSec automates network security policy in device vendor-agnostic fashion—that is, it provides a unified console from which security teams can holistically manage security policy across multiple data centers and network segments that include many firewalls and other network devices. The AlgoSec solution is vendor-agnostic, enabling security teams to use a common security interface to handle policy management regardless of type of network device. The AlgoSec solution is able to tie security-policy management to business processes and applications, proactively assessing risk, and ensuring continuous compliance in addition to quick provisioning, change, migration and decommissioning of network connectivity for business applications. That businesses are migrating applications to private and public clouds doesn’t change anything for AlgoSec. Neither do virtualization nor multi-cloud deployments. In fact, the accelerating deployment of heterogeneous networks greatly increases the need for an automated Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) solution like AlgoSec. Schedule a Demo Migration to the cloud and virtualization – a growing trend The network landscape of today differs radically from what we knew only a few years ago. For a variety of quantifiable reasons that include productivity, agility and costs, enterprises are migrating their applications to public and private clouds. Public clouds Migration of applications to public clouds has become an indispensable strategy for enterprises as public clouds bring a great many advantages. The most popular of the public clouds, AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform, have become part of the computing fabric of millions of enterprises. Because of the proliferation of easy-to-use and cost-effective public clouds, enterprises leverage multiple cloud vendors. IDC estimates that nearly 80 percent of IT organizations are currently deploying, or are planning to deploy, multi-cloud environments. A study conducted by Microsoft and 451 Research, The Digital Revolution Powered by Cloud, stated that nearly a third of organizations already work with three or four cloud vendors. The embracing of the multi-cloud environment can be attributed to the advantages each cloud vendor has to offer such as unique functions, proximity and pricing models. Since application requirements can vary greatly and require specific functions and capabilities to operate optimally, matching them to specific cloud vendors is important. Various cloud environments offer the functions and tools that deliver the best capabilities for each application. Some public clouds excel in cost advantages, others in availability, still others in compute power. Businesses evaluate the advantages of each cloud to take advantage of the functions that will best support each application. Enterprises also worry about lock-in—a commitment to a single cloud vendor—that might turn them into a captive customer allowing that vendor to dictate the terms of service and costs. Businesses avoid lock-in by deploying applications across multiple clouds. Private clouds As enterprises transform digitally, their data and applications grow exponentially. Network managers are constantly challenged to re-consider the network infrastructure that will best support business needs now and into the foreseeable future. Today, private cloud is one of their main considerations. Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers advantages similar to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture that the enterprises maintain themselves. While public clouds deliver services to any number of enterprises, a single enterprise establishes its own private cloud dedicated to its own needs. Therefore, private cloud is the best choice for enterprises who wish to control all the aspects of their computing and where it is easier to manage security and regulatory compliance. According to Market Research Future, the global private cloud market, although not as widely adopted as the public cloud, is still expected to grow explosively at 26% CAGR between 2017 and 2023 and reach a valuation of more than USD 50B by 2023. Get a demo Hybrid networks As a result of the distinct advantages and disadvantages of each type of cloud implementation, most enterprises utilize two or three types of environments: traditional data center processing, private clouds and public clouds; and in many cases, employing multiple vendors for the cloud environments. Taken together, they give rise to the heterogeneous network environment or hybrid network . Schedule a Demo Network security challenges in the hybrid network Running applications across the hybrid network can prove eminently useful for business teams but extraordinarily challenging for security teams. The complexity of the heterogeneous environment introduces a new level of security policy management challenges. We identify seven major challenges that must be addressed to ensure security and compliance across hybrid networks. 1. Visibility The more heterogenous the network, the more complex it becomes. Complexity is the enemy of security. Across the vast landscape of physical equipment, virtual firewalls, and public-cloud network security groups, security teams find it difficult to obtain a clear picture of application-connectivity requirements and overall network security. You can’t protect what you can’t see. Visibility is essential to security and rapid incident response. Obtaining full visibility across the entire hybrid network requires a deep understanding of the hybrid network’s topology and the flows between: On-premise networks and cloud providers Multiple public cloud environments VPCs and v-NETs Regions within the same cloud providers Cloud environments and the internet A study sponsored by Forbes surveyed professionals in enterprise IT departments about their cloud infrastructures. More than one-third said they lack visibility into their application operations in the public cloud. The independent market research company, Vanson Bourne, conducted a survey to investigate the state of network security. In Hide and Seek: Cybersecurity and the Cloud , two-thirds of respondents cited network “blind spots” as a major obstacle to effective data protection. Ixia’s recent survey of senior IT staff in various organizations regarding their cloud security concerns concurred. The top concern with cloud adoption was the ability to achieve full visibility. 2. Maintaining compliance posture Put bluntly, compliance is absolutely necessary for the business but is a nuisance for the IT staff. With the recent introduction of the GDPR and the growing body of legal and industrial regulations, compliance is taking up more and more effort and time from IT departments and especially security staff. Keeping up with the numerous regulations that are found in a growing number of geographies and industries is challenging enough in a single-cloud-provider environment. Compliance challenges multiply rapidly in heterogeneous environments due to: The need to apply compliance processes for each regulation for each network entity Service contract terms and SLAs across the estate Compliance methodologies that work for one cloud vendor don’t necessarily work for another Audits are point-in-time exercises, but most regulations require continuous compliance, tough to achieve in a dynamic environment Compliance needs to be documented for every entity and vendor, very tedious and time-consuming, and a drain on scant resources The essence of information security regulations such as PCI-DSS, GLBA and HIPAA is to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information. While these regulations are addressed by the best practices that IT departments have continuously implemented for years, the challenges are rapidly expanding in the heterogeneous environment. Due to the chronic lack of IT and security staff, teams are incessantly pulled in different directions. In many cases, it’s gotten to the point where IT staff are busy putting out security and operational fires and have little time to perform critical strategic work such as addressing compliance issues at the network and cloud level. Multiple clouds just make the task that much harder. 3. Identifying and mitigating risks Due to the dynamic nature of the hybrid (on-prem and cloud) network, numerous changes to security policies are likely to ensue. These changes will be implemented on all the devices that direct traffic and will likely be performed by the multiple stakeholders involved in the hybrid network such as application developers and DevOps in addition to cloud and security teams. The ever-transforming environment necessitates close attention as risk may be introduced inadvertently by these changes. The risks within the complex hybrid-cloud estate will likely be too numerous and complex to be identified manually. Therefore, it’s imperative to obtain a dashboard that depicts all risks on a single screen. This dashboard should indicate the severity, the affected devices and rules, and the changes required to remediate each risk. The dashboard also requires the ability to notify pro-actively (via alarm) whenever the network is exposed to new risks. 4. Managing application connectivity The growing body of applications requires a complex, multi-tiered, distributed and interconnected architecture supported by elaborate communication paths that cross other applications, servers and databases. A Symantec analysis found that while most CIOs think their organizations use only 30 or 40 cloud applications , in fact, most have adopted an average of 928! Even if they get a grip on their current application volume, network and security teams can’t consider themselves in control. There are constant upgrades and changes, as well as new applications to deploy, connect and secure. Business users demand that they be up and running immediately while security is hard-pressed to keep up. Trying to manage application connectivity across on-premise, private and public clouds, each with multiple vendors, is prohibitively expensive in time and effort. 5. Managing policies Maintaining a clean set of firewall rules is a critical network-management function. Difficult enough in the data center, things really get out of hand when networks cross borders into the cloud. Private clouds add unique security controls such as ACI contracts and distributed firewalls. And each public cloud has its unique security controls such as cloud-native security groups, cloud-vendor firewalls (e.g., Azure firewall and AWS WAF), and 3rd-party cloud firewalls by the traditional firewall vendors (e.g., CloudGuard from Checkpoint and Palo Alto Networks’ VM series). The proliferation of security controls that make up the hybrid, multi-cloud network multiplies policy-management complexity. Maintaining a clean set of firewall rules is a critical firewall management function. Difficult enough in the data center, things really get out of hand when networks cross borders into the cloud. Adding more than one cloud further multiples the policy-management complexity. Unwieldy rulesets are not just a technical nuisance, they also introduce business risks, such as open ports, unneeded VPN tunnels and conflicting rules that create the backdoor entry points that hackers love. Bloated rulesets significantly complicate auditing processes that require the careful review of each rule and its related business justification. Examples of firewall rules that institute problems include: Unused rules Shadowed rules Expired rules Unattached objects (rules that refer to non-existent entities such as users who have left the company) Rules that are not ordered optimally (e.g., the rule that is “most hit” is near the bottom of the rule list) These problems drive organizations to take on ad hoc firewall “cleanup” or “recertification” projects. The problems are magnified in enterprises with: A large number of traditional physical firewalls Firewalls from multiple vendors (Checkpoint, Cisco, Palo Alto Networks) Different types of platforms (on-prem, private cloud, public cloud) Different types of security controls (traditional firewalls, security groups, etc.) Such complexities contribute to a lack of visibility, poor accountability, and undetected network breaches. They accumulate unnecessary costs for the business and waste precious IT time. Enterprises across the board are well aware of the need to get a handle on security controls. Research by ESG indicates that 70 percent of organizations plan to unify security controls for all server workloads across public clouds and on-premises resources over the next two years. 6. Enforcing security-policy consistency The only constant in today’s IT environment is change. Today, change occurs at a breakneck pace. As business needs transform (due to rapid business growth, mergers and acquisitions, new applications, decommissioning of old applications, new and departing users, evolving networks, new cyber threats), so must security policies—and fast. Managing change can lead to major headaches for IT, security and cloud management teams who try to enforce consistent security policies across the heterogenous network. Maintaining consistency across the hybrid and multi-cloud network meets with many problems such as: Each security entity has a different method of managing policy changes. Lack of intricate understanding of the proper management of changes for each security entity can lead to critical business risks as benign as legitimate traffic blockage all the way to the entire business network going offline. Manual workflows and change management processes that are unique for each security entity can substantially slow down the change process, impeding IT agility. Some enterprises with a very complex heterogeneous network are so concerned about change control and its potential negative impact that they may resort to network freezes during peak business times so as not to suffer inexplicable outages. Changes are slow. It can take several days—sometimes weeks—to process a single change in a complex enterprise environment. Enterprises may implement hundreds of changes each month. It’s difficult to assess the risk of a proposed change. The change process in a hybrid network involves disparate teams (security, networking, cloud, business owners). These teams speak different languages and have different objectives. They lack a unifying factor. 7. Handling multiple management consoles Each cloud vendor provides its own console that facilitates the day-to-day management of its cloud accounts and provides services such as monitoring cloud-resource usage, calculating current costs and managing security credentials. In addition, each firewall vendor offers its own unique management console for managing all of its devices. Each vendor’s console comes with its own language and GUI. To make network-wide policy changes that span firewalls and clouds, security staff must access multiple consoles forcing enterprises to employ a legion of experts just to implement even a simple change. Changes have to be meticulously coordinated across the many management consoles slowing down progress and introducing potential for errors. 8. Lack of skilled staff with cloud-security knowledge Despite all the advancements we have made in network security in recent years, enterprises still endure regular cyberattacks that continue to cause billions of dollars in damages. Effective network security professionals are now more important than ever. Yet, despite the urgent need (and handsome salaries), the world suffers from a severe scarcity in able and certified personnel. According to a recent McAfee study titled The ramifications of the skills shortage on cloud security, IT leaders need to increase their security staffs by 24% to adequately manage their current threat landscape. But these people are simply not available. The absence of adequately trained security professionals leaves gaps in many aspects of modern-day security infrastructure. In their report on security deficiencies , ESG found that 33% of responders indicated that their biggest deficiency was cloud security specialists followed by 28% who pointed to a deficiency in network security specialists and 27% who suffer a shortage of security analysts. A security officer with expertise in any cloud environment needs to be familiar with the best practices of incident response and must also be proficient in cloud security practices such as identity access management (IAM), deployment automation and cloud regulatory compliance. The requisite qualifications are amplified when the same officer needs to manage multiple cloud vendors. As security varies with each vendor, the multi-cloud security officer must know the security nuances of each cloud vendor and stay up to date with the ongoing security advancements of each. It is practically impossible to find such people. Many network and cloud security positions remain unfilled forcing organizations to compromise. Schedule a Demo The AlgoSec solution for heterogeneous environments AlgoSec delivers business-driven security management across on-premise, SDN, hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud environments. With AlgoSec, enterprises maintain a uniform security policy across their entire network estate. From a single console, security teams can see across their on-prem and virtual networks and into all their clouds. They obtain accurate policy change automation across their physical and virtual firewalls as well as into their public cloud deployments. The AlgoSec approach bestows numerous critical benefits on the enterprise: Visibility across the hybrid cloud and multi-cloud from a business-application perspective Uniform security policy across complex hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments Compliance assurance across the hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments Hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud security policy change automation with zero touch Increased agility and responsiveness to business needs Accelerated application delivery Optimal training of security personnel—one console, one language—for the entire heterogeneous network Schedule a Demo Executive summary AlgoSec delivers the acute visibility, automation and unified solution for managing the entire volume of hybrid-cloud security policies, configurations and controls to achieve and maintain security and compliance. Maintaining a robust security posture in such a complex environment that includes on-premise network equipment from multiple vendors, SDN, virtual, private and public cloud infrastructures necessitates automation . AlgoSec is the leading automation solution for network security policy management. Used by 1,800 customers in over 80 countries, AlgoSec delivers end-to-end visibility and analysis of the hybrid network security infrastructure (including real and virtual firewalls, routers and cloud security groups), as well as business applications and their connectivity flows—across cloud, SDN and on-premise enterprise networks. AlgoSec automates time-consuming and error-prone manual security-policy changes with zero touch, proactively assessing risk and ensuring continuous compliance. AlgoSec quickly provisions, modifies, migrates and decommissions network connectivity for business applications. To discover more about AlgoSec’s business-driven security management solution, visit www.algosec.com , or click here to request a demo. Schedule a Demo Select a size Overview Introduction Where the data center meets the cloud Migration to the cloud and virtualization – a growing trend Network security challenges in the hybrid network The AlgoSec solution for heterogeneous environments Executive summary Get the latest insights from the experts Choose a better way to manage your network

How to Secure Your Local Area Network In my last blog series we reviewed ways to protect the perimeter of your network and then we took... Firewall Change Management How to secure your LAN (Local Area Network) Matthew Pascucci 2 min read Matthew Pascucci 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 11/12/13 Published How to Secure Your Local Area Network In my last blog series we reviewed ways to protect the perimeter of your network and then we took it one layer deeper and discussed securing the DMZ . Now I’d like to examine the ways you can secure the Local Area Network, aka LAN, also known as the soft underbelly of the beast. Okay, I made that last part up, but that’s what it should be called. The LAN has become the focus of attack over the past couple years, due to companies tightening up their perimeter and DMZ. It’s very rare you’ll you see an attacker come right at you these days, when they can trick an unwitting user into clicking a weaponized link about “Cat Videos” (Seriously, who doesn’t like cat videos?!). With this being said, let’s talk about a few ways we can protect our soft underbelly and secure our network. For the first part of this blog series, let’s examine how to secure the LAN at the network layer. LAN and the Network Layer From the network layer, there are constant things that can be adjusted and used to tighten the posture of your LAN. The network is the highway where the data traverses. We need protection on the interstate just as we need protection on our network. Protecting how users are connecting to the Internet and other systems is an important topic. We could create an entire series of blogs on just this topic, but let’s try to condense it a little here. Verify that you’re network is segmented – it better be if you read my last article on the DMZ – but we need to make sure nothing from the DMZ is relying on internal services. This is a rule. Take them out now and thank us later. If this is happening, you are just asking for some major compliance and security issues to crop up. Continuing with segmentation, make sure there’s a guest network that vendors can attach to if needed. I hate when I go to a client/vendor’s site and they ask me to plug into their network. What if I was evil? What if I had malware on my laptop that’s now ripping throughout your network because I was dumb enough to click a link to a “Cat Video”? If people aren’t part of your company, they shouldn’t be connecting to your internal LAN plain and simple. Make sure you have egress filtering on your firewall so you aren’t giving complete access for users to pillage the Internet from your corporate workstation. By default users should only have access to port 80/443, anything else should be an edge case (in most environments). If users need FTP access there should be a rule and you’ll have to allow them outbound after authorization, but they shouldn’t be allowed to rush the Internet on every port. This stops malware, botnets, etc. that are communicating on random ports. It doesn’t protect everything since you can tunnel anything out of these ports, but it’s a layer! Set up some type of switch security that’s going to disable a port if there are different or multiple MAC addresses coming from a single port. This stops hubs from being installed in your network and people using multiple workstations. Also, attempt to set up NAC to get a much better understating of what’s connecting to your network while giving you complete control of those ports and access to resources from the LAN. In our next LAN security-focused blog, we’ll move from the network up the stack to the application layer. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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 firewall audit checklist: Six best practices for simplifying firewall compliance and risk mitigation Download PDF Download PDF Add a Title Add a Title Add a Title 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

Top 5 misconfigurations to avoid for robust security Multi-cloud environments have become the backbone of modern enterprise IT, offering unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and access to a diverse array of innovative services. This distributed architecture empowers organizations to avoid vendor lock-in, optimize costs, and leverage specialized functionalities from different providers. However, this very strength introduces a significant challenge: increased complexity in security... Cloud Security 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Iris Stein 2 min read Iris Stein 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 6/23/25 Published Top 5 misconfigurations to avoid for robust security Multi-cloud environments have become the backbone of modern enterprise IT, offering unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and access to a diverse array of innovative services. This distributed architecture empowers organizations to avoid vendor lock-in, optimize costs, and leverage specialized functionalities from different providers. However, this very strength introduces a significant challenge: increased complexity in security management. The diverse security models, APIs, and configuration nuances of each cloud provider, when combined, create a fertile ground for misconfigurations. A single oversight can cascade into severe security vulnerabilities, lead to compliance violations, and even result in costly downtime and reputational damage. At AlgoSec, we have extensive experience in navigating the intricacies of multi-cloud security. Our observations reveal recurring patterns of misconfigurations that undermine even the most well-intentioned security strategies. To help you fortify your multi-cloud defences, we've compiled the top five multi-cloud misconfigurations that organizations absolutely must avoid. 1. Over-permissive policies: The gateway to unauthorized access One of the most pervasive and dangerous misconfigurations is the granting of overly broad or permissive access policies. In the rush to deploy applications or enable collaboration, it's common for organizations to assign excessive permissions to users, services, or applications. This "everyone can do everything" approach creates a vast attack surface, making it alarmingly easy for unauthorized individuals or compromised credentials to gain access to sensitive resources across your various cloud environments. The principle of least privilege (PoLP) is paramount here. Every user, application, and service should only be granted the minimum necessary permissions to perform its intended function. This includes granular control over network access, data manipulation, and resource management. Regularly review and audit your Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies across all your cloud providers. Tools that offer centralized visibility into entitlements and highlight deviations can be invaluable in identifying and rectifying these critical vulnerabilities before they are exploited. 2. Inadequate network segmentation: Lateral movement made easy In a multi-cloud environment, a flat network architecture is an open invitation for attackers. Without proper network segmentation, a breach in one part of your cloud infrastructure can easily lead to lateral movement across your entire environment. Mixing production, development, and sensitive data workloads within the same network segment significantly increases the risk of an attacker pivoting from a less secure development environment to a critical production database. Effective network segmentation involves logically isolating different environments, applications, and data sets. This can be achieved through Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), subnets, security groups, network access control lists (NACLs), and micro-segmentation techniques. The goal is to create granular perimeters around critical assets, limiting the blast radius of any potential breach. By restricting traffic flows between different segments and enforcing strict ingress and egress rules, you can significantly hinder an attacker's ability to move freely within your cloud estate. 3. Unsecured storage buckets: A goldmine for data breaches Cloud storage services, such as Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage, offer incredible scalability and accessibility. However, their misconfiguration remains a leading cause of data breaches. Publicly accessible storage buckets, often configured inadvertently, expose vast amounts of sensitive data to the internet. This includes customer information, proprietary code, intellectual property, and even internal credentials. It is imperative to always double-check and regularly audit the access controls and encryption settings of all your storage buckets across every cloud provider. Implement strong bucket policies, restrict public access by default, and enforce encryption at rest and in transit. Consider using multifactor authentication for access to storage, and leverage tools that continuously monitor for publicly exposed buckets and alert you to any misconfigurations. Regular data classification and tagging can also help in identifying and prioritizing the protection of highly sensitive data stored in the cloud. 4. Lack of centralized visibility: Flying blind in a complex landscape Managing security in a multi-cloud environment without a unified, centralized view of your security posture is akin to flying blind. The disparate dashboards, logs, and security tools provided by individual cloud providers make it incredibly challenging to gain a holistic understanding of your security landscape. This fragmented visibility makes it nearly impossible to identify widespread misconfigurations, enforce consistent security policies across different clouds, and respond effectively and swiftly to emerging threats. A centralized security management platform is crucial for multi-cloud environments. Such a platform should provide comprehensive discovery of all your cloud assets, enable continuous risk assessment, and offer unified policy management across your entire multi-cloud estate. This centralized view allows security teams to identify inconsistencies, track changes, and ensure that security policies are applied uniformly, regardless of the underlying cloud provider. Without this overarching perspective, organizations are perpetually playing catch-up, reacting to incidents rather than proactively preventing them. 5. Neglecting Shadow IT: The unseen security gaps Shadow IT refers to unsanctioned cloud deployments, applications, or services that are used within an organization without the knowledge or approval of the IT or security departments. While seemingly innocuous, shadow IT can introduce significant and often unmanaged security gaps. These unauthorized resources often lack proper security configurations, patching, and monitoring, making them easy targets for attackers. To mitigate the risks of shadow IT, organizations need robust discovery mechanisms that can identify all cloud resources, whether sanctioned or not. Once discovered, these resources must be brought under proper security governance, including regular monitoring, configuration management, and adherence to organizational security policies. Implementing cloud access security brokers (CASBs) and network traffic analysis tools can help in identifying and gaining control over shadow IT instances. Educating employees about the risks of unauthorized cloud usage is also a vital step in fostering a more secure multi-cloud environment. Proactive management with AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise Navigating the complex and ever-evolving multi-cloud landscape demands more than just awareness of these pitfalls; it requires deep visibility and proactive management. This is precisely where AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise excels. Our solution provides comprehensive discovery of all your cloud assets across various providers, offering a unified view of your entire multi-cloud estate. It enables continuous risk assessment by identifying misconfigurations, policy violations, and potential vulnerabilities. Furthermore, AlgoSec Cloud Enterprise empowers automated policy enforcement, ensuring consistent security postures and helping you eliminate misconfigurations before they can be exploited. By providing this robust framework for security management, AlgoSec helps organizations maintain a strong and resilient security posture in their multi-cloud journey. Stay secure out there! The multi-cloud journey offers immense opportunities, but only with diligent attention to security and proactive management can you truly unlock its full potential while safeguarding your critical assets. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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 how to create a practical container security framework that protects Kubernetes environments throughout their entire lifecycle, from CI/CD security to secrets management, with AlgoSec. Containerization technologies 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. Container security across the Kubernetes lifecycle The modern attack surface: Containerization, Kubernetes security, and container vulnerabilities Shift left: CI/CD security, secure base images, and container image scanning Container security, orchestration security, and container hardening in Kubernetes How AlgoSec helps Runtime protection and container vulnerabilities for containerized workloads How AlgoSec helps End-to-end container security with AlgoSec’s Prevasio Next steps: Secrets management and container security checklist 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

Webinars Migrate & modernize: Supercharging your Cisco Nexus refresh with ACI If you still have Cisco Nexus 7000 devices in your environment, surely you have been inundated with end-of-life warnings and next-gen messaging touting the benefits of upgrading to Nexus 9000 with Cisco ACI. We know, modernizing your infrastructure can be a real pain, but with change also comes opportunity! Find out in this session how to leverage your Nexus refresh to increase your efficiency and productivity, and reduce security concerns at the same time. AlgoSec’s Jeremiah Cornelius, along with Cisco’s Cynthia Broderick, will guide you on how to: Migrate your current Nexus flows to ACI using your preferred mode – network or application centric Remove vulnerabilities caused by human error via automation of network change processes. Instantly identify and remediate risk and compliance violations. June 9, 2021 Cynthia Broderick DC Networking, Business Development at Cisco Jeremiah Cornelius Technical Leader for Alliances and Partners at AlgoSec Relevant resources Modernize your network and harness the power of Nexus & Cisco ACI with AlgoSec Watch Video AlgoSec’s integration with Cisco ACI Watch Video Cisco & AlgoSec achieving application-driven security across your hybrid network 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

All organizations eventually inherit outdated technology infrastructure. As new technology becomes available, old apps and services... Firewall Change Management The Application Migration Checklist 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 10/25/23 Published All organizations eventually inherit outdated technology infrastructure. As new technology becomes available, old apps and services become increasingly expensive to maintain. That expense can come in a variety of forms: Decreased productivity compared to competitors using more modern IT solutions. Greater difficulty scaling IT asset deployments and managing the device life cycle . Security and downtime risks coming from new vulnerabilities and emerging threats. Cloud computing is one of the most significant developments of the past decade. Organizations are increasingly moving their legacy IT assets to new environments hosted on cloud services like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. Cloud migration projects enable organizations to dramatically improve productivity, scalability, and security by transforming on-premises applications to cloud-hosted solutions. However, cloud migration projects are among the most complex undertakings an organization can attempt. Some reports state that nine out of ten migration projects experience failure or disruption at some point, and only one out of four meet their proposed deadlines. The better prepared you are for your application migration project , the more likely it is to succeed. Keep the following migration checklist handy while pursuing this kind of initiative at your company. Step 1: Assessing Your Applications The more you know about your legacy applications and their characteristics, the more comprehensive you can be with pre-migration planning. Start by identifying the legacy applications that you want to move to the cloud. Pay close attention to the dependencies that your legacy applications have. You will need to ensure the availability of those resources in an IT environment that is very different from the typical on-premises data center. You may need to configure cloud-hosted resources to meet specific needs that are unique to your organization and its network architecture. Evaluate the criticality of each legacy application you plan on migrating to the cloud. You will have to prioritize certain applications over others, minimizing disruption while ensuring the cloud-hosted infrastructure can support the workload you are moving to. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to application migration. The inventory assessment may bring new information to light and force you to change your initial approach. It’s best that you make these accommodations now rather than halfway through the application migration project. Step 2: Choosing the Right Migration Strategy Once you know what applications you want to move to the cloud and what additional dependencies must be addressed for them to work properly, you’re ready to select a migration strategy. These are generalized models that indicate how you’ll transition on-premises applications to cloud-hosted ones in the context of your specific IT environment. Some of the options you should gain familiarity with include: Lift and Shift (Rehosting). This option enables you to automate the migration process using tools like CloudEndure Migration, AWS VM Import/Export, and others. The lift and shift model is well-suited to organizations that need to migrate compatible large-scale enterprise applications without too many additional dependencies, or organizations that are new to the cloud. Replatforming. This is a modified version of the lift and shift model. Essentially, it introduces an additional step where you change the configuration of legacy apps to make them better-suited to the cloud environment. By adding a modernization phase to the process, you can leverage more of the cloud’s unique benefits and migrate more complex apps. Refactoring/Re-architecting. This strategy involves rewriting applications from scratch to make them cloud-native. This allows you to reap the full benefits of cloud technology. Your new applications will be scalable, efficient, and agile to the maximum degree possible. However, it’s a time-consuming, resource-intensive project that introduces significant business risk into the equation. Repurchasing. This is where the organization implements a fully mature cloud architecture as a managed service. It typically relies on a vendor offering cloud migration through the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. You will need to pay licensing fees, but the technical details of the migration process will largely be the vendor’s responsibility. This is an easy way to add cloud functionality to existing business processes, but it also comes with the risk of vendor lock-in. Step 3: Building Your Migration Team The success of your project relies on creating and leading a migration team that can respond to the needs of the project at every step. There will be obstacles and unexpected issues along the way – a high-quality team with great leadership is crucial for handling those problems when they arise. Before going into the specifics of assembling a great migration team, you’ll need to identify the key stakeholders who have an interest in seeing the project through. This is extremely important because those stakeholders will want to see their interests represented at the team level. If you neglect to represent a major stakeholder at the team level, you run the risk of having major, expensive project milestones rejected later on. Not all stakeholders will have the same level of involvement, and few will share the same values and goals. Managing them effectively means prioritizing the values and goals they represent, and choosing team members accordingly. Your migration team will consist of systems administrators, technical experts, and security practitioners, and include input from many other departments. You’ll need to formalize a system of communicating inside the core team and messaging stakeholders outside of it. You may also wish to involve end users as a distinct part of your migration team and dedicate time to addressing their concerns throughout the process. Keep team members’ stakeholder alignments and interests in mind when assigning responsibilities. For example, if a particular configuration step requires approval from the finance department, you’ll want to make sure that someone representing that department is involved from the beginning. Step 4: Creating a Migration Plan It’s crucial that every migration project follows a comprehensive plan informed by the needs of the organization itself. Organizations pursue cloud migration for many different reasons – your plan should address the problems you expect cloud-hosted technology to solve. This might mean focusing on reducing costs, enabling entry into a new market, or increasing business agility – or all three. You may have additional reasons for pursuing an application migration plan. This plan should also include data mapping . Choosing the right application performance metrics now will help make the decision-making process much easier down the line. Some of the data points that cloud migration specialists recommend capturing include: Duration highlights the value of employee labor-hours as they perform tasks throughout the process. Operational duration metrics can tell you how much time project managers spend planning the migration process, or whether one phase is taking much longer than another, and why. Disruption metrics can help identify user experience issues that become obstacles to onboarding and full adoption. Collecting data about the availability of critical services and the number of service tickets generated throughout the process can help you gauge the overall success of the initiative from the user’s perspective. Cost includes more than data transfer rates. Application migration initiatives also require creating dependency mappings, changing applications to make them cloud-native, and significant administrative costs. Up to 50% of your migration’s costs pay for labor , and you’ll want to keep close tabs on those costs as the process goes on. Infrastructure metrics like CPU usage, memory usage, network latency, and load balancing are best captured both before and after the project takes place. This will let you understand and communicate the value of the project in its entirety using straightforward comparisons. Application performance metrics like availability figures, error rates, time-outs and throughput will help you calculate the value of the migration process as a whole. This is another post-cloud migration metric that can provide useful before-and-after data. You will also want to establish a series of cloud service-level agreements (SLAs) that ensure a predictable minimum level of service is maintained. This is an important guarantee of the reliability and availability of the cloud-hosted resources you expect to use on a daily basis. Step 5: Mapping Dependencies Mapping dependencies completely and accurately is critical to the success of any migration project. If you don’t have all the elements in your software ecosystem identified correctly, you won’t be able to guarantee that your applications will work in the new environment. Application dependency mapping will help you pinpoint which resources your apps need and allow you to make those resources available. You’ll need to discover and assess every workload your organization undertakes and map out the resources and services it relies on. This process can be automated, which will help large-scale enterprises create accurate maps of complex interdependent processes. In most cases, the mapping process will reveal clusters of applications and services that need to be migrated together. You will have to identify the appropriate windows of opportunity for performing these migrations without disrupting the workloads they process. This often means managing data transfer and database migration tasks and carrying them out in a carefully orchestrated sequence. You may also discover connectivity and VPN requirements that need to be addressed early on. For example, you may need to establish protocols for private access and delegate responsibility for managing connections to someone on your team. Project stakeholders may have additional connectivity needs, like VPN functionality for securing remote connections. These should be reflected in the application dependency mapping process. Multi-cloud compatibility is another issue that will demand your attention at this stage. If your organization plans on using multiple cloud providers and configuring them to run workloads specific to their platform, you will need to make sure that the results of these processes are communicated and stored in compatible formats. Step 6: Selecting a Cloud Provider Once you fully understand the scope and requirements of your application migration project, you can begin comparing cloud providers. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google make up the majority of all public cloud deployments, and the vast majority of organizations start their search with one of these three. Amazon AW S has the largest market share, thanks to starting its cloud infrastructure business several years before its major competitors did. Amazon’s head start makes finding specialist talent easier, since more potential candidates will have familiarity with AWS than with Azure or Google Cloud. Many different vendors offer services through AWS, making it a good choice for cloud deployments that rely on multiple services and third-party subscriptions. Microsoft Azure has a longer history serving enterprise customers, even though its cloud computing division is smaller and younger than Amazon’s. Azure offers a relatively easy transition path that helps enterprise organizations migrate to the cloud without adding a large number of additional vendors to the process. This can help streamline complex cloud deployments, but also increases your reliance on Microsoft as your primary vendor. Google Cloud is the third runner-up in terms of market share. It continues to invest in cloud technologies and is responsible for a few major innovations in the space – like the Kubernetes container orchestration system. Google integrates well with third-party applications and provides a robust set of APIs for high-impact processes like translation and speech recognition. Your organization’s needs will dictate which of the major cloud providers offers the best value. Each provider has a different pricing model, which will impact how your organization arrives at a cost-effective solution. Cloud pricing varies based on customer specifications, usage, and SLAs, which means no single provider is necessarily “the cheapest” or “the most expensive” – it depends on the context. Additional cost considerations you’ll want to take into account include scalability and uptime guarantees. As your organization grows, you will need to expand its cloud infrastructure to accommodate more resource-intensive tasks. This will impact the cost of your cloud subscription in the future. Similarly, your vendor’s uptime guarantee can be a strong indicator of how invested it is in your success. Given all vendors work on the shared responsibility model, it may be prudent to consider an enterprise data backup solution for peace of mind. Step 7: Application Refactoring If you choose to invest time and resources into refactoring applications for the cloud, you’ll need to consider how this impacts the overall project. Modifying existing software to take advantage of cloud-based technologies can dramatically improve the efficiency of your tech stack, but it will involve significant risk and up-front costs. Some of the advantages of refactoring include: Reduced long-term costs. Developers refactor apps with a specific context in mind. The refactored app can be configured to accommodate the resource requirements of the new environment in a very specific manner. This boosts the overall return of investing in application refactoring in the long term and makes the deployment more scalable overall. Greater adaptability when requirements change . If your organization frequently adapts to changing business requirements, refactored applications may provide a flexible platform for accommodating unexpected changes. This makes refactoring attractive for businesses in highly regulated industries, or in scenarios with heightened uncertainty. Improved application resilience . Your cloud-native applications will be decoupled from their original infrastructure. This means that they can take full advantage of the benefits that cloud-hosted technology offers. Features like low-cost redundancy, high-availability, and security automation are much easier to implement with cloud-native apps. Some of the drawbacks you should be aware of include: Vendor lock-in risks . As your apps become cloud-native, they will naturally draw on cloud features that enhance their capabilities. They will end up tightly coupled to the cloud platform you use. You may reach a point where withdrawing those apps and migrating them to a different provider becomes infeasible, or impossible. Time and talent requirements . This process takes a great deal of time and specialist expertise. If your organization doesn’t have ample amounts of both, the process may end up taking too long and costing too much to be feasible. Errors and vulnerabilities . Refactoring involves making major changes to the way applications work. If errors work their way in at this stage, it can deeply impact the usability and security of the workload itself. Organizations can use cloud-based templates to address some of these risks, but it will take comprehensive visibility into how applications interact with cloud security policies to close every gap. Step 8: Data Migration There are many factors to take into consideration when moving data from legacy applications to cloud-native apps. Some of the things you’ll need to plan for include: Selecting the appropriate data transfer method . This depends on how much time you have available for completing the migration, and how well you plan for potential disruptions during the process. If you are moving significant amounts of data through the public internet, sidelining your regular internet connection may be unwise. Offline transfer doesn’t come with this risk, but it will include additional costs. Ensuring data center compatibility. Whether transferring data online or offline, compatibility issues can lead to complex problems and expensive downtime if not properly addressed. Your migration strategy should include a data migration testing strategy that ensures all of your data is properly formatted and ready to use the moment it is introduced to the new environment. Utilizing migration tools for smooth data transfer . The three major cloud providers all offer cloud migration tools with multiple tiers and services. You may need to use these tools to guarantee a smooth transfer experience, or rely on a third-party partner for this step in the process. Step 9: Configuring the Cloud Environment By the time your data arrives in its new environment, you will need to have virtual machines and resources set up to seamlessly take over your application workloads and processes. At the same time, you’ll need a comprehensive set of security policies enforced by firewall rules that address the risks unique to cloud-hosted infrastructure. As with many other steps in this checklist, you’ll want to carefully assess, plan, and test your virtual machine deployments before deploying them in a live production environment. Gather information about your source and target environment and document the workloads you wish to migrate. Set up a test environment you can use to make sure your new apps function as expected before clearing them for live production. Similarly, you may need to configure and change firewall rules frequently during the migration process. Make sure that your new deployments are secured with reliable, well-documented security policies. If you skip the documentation phase of building your firewall policy, you run the risk of introducing security vulnerabilities into the cloud environment, and it will be very difficult for you to identify and address them later on. You will also need to configure and deploy network interfaces that dictate where and when your cloud environment will interact with other networks, both inside and outside your organization. This is your chance to implement secure network segmentation that protects mission-critical assets from advanced and persistent cyberattacks. This is also the best time to implement disaster recovery mechanisms that you can rely on to provide business continuity even if mission-critical assets and apps experience unexpected downtime. Step 10: Automating Workflows Once your data and apps are fully deployed on secure cloud-hosted infrastructure, you can begin taking advantage of the suite of automation features your cloud provider offers. Depending on your choice of migration strategy, you may be able to automate repetitive tasks, streamline post-migration processes, or enhance the productivity of entire departments using sophisticated automation tools. In most cases, automating routine tasks will be your first priority. These automations are among the simplest to configure because they largely involve high-volume, low-impact tasks. Ideally, these tasks are also isolated from mission-critical decision-making processes. If you established a robust set of key performance indicators earlier on in the migration project, you can also automate post-migration processes that involve capturing and reporting these data points. Your apps will need to continue ingesting and processing data, making data validation another prime candidate for workflow automation. Cloud-native apps can ingest data from a wide range of sources, but they often need some form of validation and normalization to produce predictable results. Ongoing testing and refinement will help you make the most of your migration project moving forward. How AlgoSec Enables Secure Application Migration Visibility and Di scovery : AlgoSec provide s comprehensive visibility into your existing on-premises network environment. It automatically discovers all network devices, applications, and their dependencies. This visibility is crucial when planning a secure migration, ensuring no critical elements get overlooked in the process. Application Dependency Mapping : AlgoSec’s application dependency mapping capabilities allow you to understand how different applications and services interact within your network. This knowledge is vital during migration to avoid disrupting critical dependencies. Risk Assessment : AlgoSec assesses the security and compliance risks associated with your migration plan. It identifies potential vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance violations that could impact the security of the migrated applications. Security Policy Analysis : Before migrating, AlgoSec helps you analyze your existing security policies and rules. It ensures that security policies are consistent and effective in the new cloud or data center environment. Misconfigurations and unnecessary rules can be eliminated, reducing the attack surface. Automated Rule Optimiz ation : AlgoSec automates the o ptimization of security rules. It identifies redundant rules, suggests rule consolidations, and ensures that only necessary traffic is allowed, helping you maintain a secure environment during migration. Change Management : During the migration process, changes to security policies and firewall rules are often necessary. AlgoSec facilitates change management by providing a streamlined process for requesting, reviewing, and implementing rule changes. This ensures that security remains intact throughout the migration. Compliance and Governance : AlgoSec helps maintain compliance with industry regulations and security best practices. It generates compliance reports, ensures rule consistency, and enforces security policies, even in the new cloud or data center environment. Continuous Monitoring and Auditing : Post-migration, AlgoSec continues to monitor and audit your security policies and network traffic. It alerts you to any anomalies or security breaches, ensuring the ongoing security of your migrated applications. Integration with Cloud Platforms : AlgoSec integrates seamlessly with various cloud platforms such as AWS , Microsoft Azure , and Google Cloud . This ensures that security policies are consistently applied in both on-premises and cloud environments, enabling a secure hybrid or multi-cloud setup. Operational Efficiency : AlgoSec’s automation capabilities reduce manual tasks, improving operational efficiency. This is essential during the migration process, where time is often of the essence. Real-time Visibility and Control : AlgoSec provides real-time visibility and control over your security policies, allowing you to adapt quickly to changing migration requirements and security threats. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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

How To Reduce Attack Surface: 6 Proven Tactics Security-oriented organizations continuously identify, monitor, and manage... Cyber Attacks & Incident Response How To Reduce Attack Surface: 6 Proven Tactics 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 12/20/23 Published How To Reduce Attack Surface: 6 Proven Tactics Security-oriented organizations continuously identify, monitor, and manage internet-connected assets to protect them from emerging attack vectors and potential vulnerabilities. Security teams go through every element of the organization’s security posture – from firewalls and cloud-hosted assets to endpoint devices and entry points – looking for opportunities to reduce security risks. This process is called attack surface management. It provides a comprehensive view into the organization’s cybersecurity posture, with a neatly organized list of entry points, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses that hackers could exploit in a cyberattack scenario. Attack surface reduction is an important element of any organization’s overall cybersecurity strategy. Security leaders who understand the organization’s weaknesses can invest resources into filling the most critical gaps first and worrying about low-priority threats later. What assets make up your organization’s attack surface? Your organization’s attack surface is a detailed list of every entry point and vulnerability that an attacker could exploit to gain unauthorized access. The more entry points your network has, the larger its attack surface will be. Most security leaders divide their attention between two broad types of attack surfaces: The digital attack surface This includes all network equipment and business assets used to transfer, store, and communicate information. It is susceptible to phishing attempts , malware risks, ransomware attacks, and data breaches. Cybercriminals may infiltrate these kinds of assets by bypassing technical security controls, compromising unsecured apps or APIs, or guessing weak passwords. The physical attack surface This includes business assets that employees, partners, and customers interact with physically. These might include hardware equipment located inside data centers and USB access points. Even access control systems for office buildings and other non-cyber threats may be included. These assets can play a role in attacks that involve social engineering, insider threats, and other malicious actors who work in-person. Even though both of these attack surfaces are distinct, many of their security vulnerabilities and potential entry points overlap in real-life threat scenarios. For example, thieves might steal laptops from an unsecured retail location and leverage sensitive data on those devices to launch further attacks against the organization’s digital assets. Organizations that take steps to minimize their attack surface area can reduce the risks associated with this kind of threat. Known Assets, Unknown Assets, and Rogue Assets All physical and digital business assets fall into one of three categories: Known assets are apps, devices, and systems that the security team has authorized to connect to the organization’s network. These assets are included in risk assessments and they are protected by robust security measures, like network segmentation and strict permissions. Unknown assets include systems and web applications that the security team is not aware of. These are not authorized to access the network and may represent a serious security threat. Shadow IT applications may be part of this category, as well as employee-owned mobile devices storing sensitive data and unsecured IoT devices. Rogue assets connect to the network without authorization, but they are known to security teams. These may include unauthorized user accounts, misconfigured assets, and unpatched software. A major part of properly managing your organization’s attack surface involves the identification and remediation of these risks. Attack Vectors Explained: Minimize Risk by Following Potential Attack Paths When conducting attack surface analysis, security teams have to carefully assess the way threat actors might discover and compromise the organization’s assets while carrying out their attack. This requires the team to combine elements of vulnerability management with risk management , working through the cyberattack kill chain the way a hacker might. Some cybercriminals leverage technical vulnerabilities in operating systems and app integrations. Others prefer to exploit poor identity access management policies, or trick privileged employees into giving up their authentication credentials. Many cyberattacks involve multiple steps carried out by different teams of threat actors. For example, one hacker may specialize in gaining initial access to secured networks while another focuses on using different tools to escalate privileges. To successfully reduce your organization’s attack surface, you must follow potential attacks through these steps and discover what their business impact might be. This will provide you with the insight you need to manage newly discovered vulnerabilities and protect business assets from cyberattack. Some examples of common attack vectors include: API vulnerabilities. APIs allow organizations to automate the transfer of data, including scripts and code, between different systems. Many APIs run on third-party servers managed by vendors who host and manage the software for customers. These interfaces can introduce vulnerabilities that internal security teams aren’t aware of, reducing visibility into the organization’s attack surface. Unsecured software plugins. Plugins are optional add-ons that enhance existing apps by providing new features or functionalities. They are usually made by third-party developers who may require customers to send them data from internal systems. If this transfer is not secured, hackers may intercept it and use that information to attack the system. Unpatched software. Software developers continuously release security patches that address emerging threats and vulnerabilities. However, not all users implement these patches the moment they are released. This delay gives attackers a key opportunity to learn about the vulnerability (which is as easy as reading the patch changelog) and exploit it before the patch is installed. Misconfigured security tools. Authentication systems, firewalls, and other security tools must be properly configured in order to produce optimal security benefits. Attackers who discover misconfigurations can exploit those weaknesses to gain entry to the network. Insider threats. This is one of the most common attack vectors, yet it can be the hardest to detect. Any employee entrusted with sensitive data could accidentally send it to the wrong person, resulting in a data breach. Malicious insiders may take steps to cover their tracks, using their privileged permissions and knowledge of the organization to go unnoticed. 6 Tactics for Reducing Your Attack Surface 1. Implement Zero Trust The Zero Trust security model assumes that data breaches are inevitable and may even have already occurred. This adds new layers to the problems that attack surface management resolves, but it can dramatically improve overall resilience and preparedness. When you develop your security policies using the Zero Trust framework, you impose strong limits on what hackers can and cannot do after gaining initial access to your network. Zero Trust architecture blocks attackers from conducting lateral movement, escalating their privileges, and breaching critical data. For example, IoT devices are a common entry point into many networks because they don’t typically benefit from the same level of security that on-premises workstations receive. At the same time, many apps and systems are configured to automatically trust connections from internet-enabled sensors and peripheral devices. Under a Zero Trust framework, these connections would require additional authentication. The systems they connect to would also need to authenticate themselves before receiving data. Multi-factor authentication is another part of the Zero Trust framework that can dramatically improve operational security. Without this kind of authentication in place, most systems have to accept that anyone with the right username and password combination must be a legitimate user. In a compromised credential scenario, this is obviously not the case. Organizations that develop network infrastructure with Zero Trust principles in place are able to reduce the number of entry points their organization exposes to attackers and reduce the value of those entry points. If hackers do compromise parts of the network, they will be unable to quickly move between different segments of the network, and may be unable to stay unnoticed for long. 2. Remove Unnecessary Complexity Unknown assets are one of the main barriers to operational security excellence. Security teams can’t effectively protect systems, apps, and users they don’t have detailed information on. Any rogue or unknown assets the organization is responsible for are almost certainly attractive entry points for hackers. Arbitrarily complex systems can be very difficult to document and inventory properly . This is a particularly challenging problem for security leaders working for large enterprises that grow through acquisitions. Managing a large portfolio of acquired companies can be incredibly complex, especially when every individual company has its own security systems, tools, and policies to take into account. Security leaders generally don’t have the authority to consolidate complex systems on their own. However, you can reduce complexity and simplify security controls throughout the environment in several key ways: Reduce the organization’s dependence on legacy systems. End-of-life systems that no longer receive maintenance and support should be replaced with modern equivalents quickly. Group assets, users, and systems together. Security groups should be assigned on the basis of least privileged access, so that every user only has the minimum permissions necessary to achieve their tasks. Centralize access control management. Ad-hoc access control management quickly leads to unknown vulnerabilities and weaknesses popping up unannounced. Implement a robust identity access management system so you can create identity-based policies for managing user access. 3. Perform Continuous Vulnerability Monitoring Your organization’s attack surface is constantly changing. New threats are emerging, old ones are getting patched, and your IT environment is supporting new users and assets on a daily basis. Being able to continuously monitor these changes is one of the most important aspects of Zero Trust architecture . The tools you use to support attack surface management should also generate alerts when assets get exposed to known risks. They should allow you to confirm the remediation of detected risks, and provide ample information about the risks they uncover. Some of the things you can do to make this happen include: Investing in a continuous vulnerability monitoring solution. Vulnerability scans are useful for finding out where your organization stands at any given moment. Scheduling these scans to occur at regular intervals allows you to build a standardized process for vulnerability monitoring and remediation. Building a transparent network designed for visibility. Your network should not obscure important security details from you. Unfortunately, this is what many third-party security tools and services achieve. Make sure both you and your third-party security partners are invested in building observability into every aspect of your network. Prioritize security expenditure based on risk. Once you can observe the way users, data, and assets interact on the network, you can begin prioritizing security initiatives based on their business impact. This allows you to focus on high-risk tasks first. 4. Use Network Segmentation to Your Advantage Network segmentation is critical to the Zero Trust framework. When your organization’s different subnetworks are separated from one another with strictly protected boundaries, it’s much harder for attackers to travel laterally through the network. Limiting access between parts of the network helps streamline security processes while reducing risk. There are several ways you can segment your network. Most organizations already perform some degree of segmentation by encrypting highly classified data. Others enforce network segmentation principles when differentiating between production and live development environments. But in order for organizations to truly benefit from network segmentation, security leaders must carefully define boundaries between every segment and enforce authentication policies designed for each boundary. This requires in-depth knowledge of the business roles and functions of the users who access those segments, and the ability to configure security tools to inspect and enforce access control rules. For example, any firewall can block traffic between two network segments. A next-generation firewall can conduct identity-based inspection that allows traffic from authorized users through – even if they are using mobile devices the firewall has never seen before. 5. Implement a Strong Encryption Policy Encryption policies are an important element of many different compliance frameworks . HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and many other regulatory frameworks specify particular encryption policies that organizations must follow to be compliant. These standards are based on the latest research in cryptographic security and threat intelligence reports that outline hackers’ capabilities. Even if your organization is not actively seeking regulatory compliance, you should use these frameworks as a starting point for building your own encryption policy. Your organization’s risk profile is largely the same whether you seek regulatory certification or not – and accidentally deploying outdated encryption policies can introduce preventable vulnerabilities into an otherwise strong security posture. Your organization’s encryption policy should detail every type of data that should be encrypted and the cipher suite you’ll use to encrypt that data. This will necessarily include critical assets like customer financial data and employee payroll records, but it also includes relatively low-impact assets like public Wi-Fi connections at retail stores. In each case, you must implement a modern cipher suite that meets your organization’s security needs and replace legacy devices that do not support the latest encryption algorithms. This is particularly important in retail and office settings, where hardware routers, printers, and other devices may no longer support secure encryption. 6. Invest in Employee Training To truly build security resilience into any company culture, it’s critical to explain why these policies must be followed, and what kinds of threats they address. One of the best ways to administer standardized security compliance training is by leveraging a corporate learning platform across the organization, so that employees can actually internalize these security policies through scenario based training courses. It’s especially valuable in organizations suffering from consistent shadow IT usage. When employees understand the security vulnerabilities that shadow IT introduces into the environment, they’re far less likely to ignore security policies for the sake of convenience. Security simulations and awareness campaigns can have a significant impact on training initiatives. When employees know how to identify threat actors at work, they are much less likely to fall victim to them. However, actually achieving meaningful improvement may require devoting a great deal of time and energy into phishing simulation exercises over time – not everyone is going to get it right in the first month or two. These initiatives can also provide clear insight and data on how prepared your employees are overall. This data can make a valuable contribution to your attack surface reduction campaign. You may be able to pinpoint departments – or even individual users – who need additional resources and support to improve their resilience against phishing and social engineering attacks. Successfully managing this aspect of your risk assessment strategy will make it much harder for hackers to gain control of privileged administrative accounts. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 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 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