Learn how to unify, consolidate, and automate your entire network security policy management across your Cisco and multi vendor estate Webinars Cisco & AlgoSec Achieving application-driven security across your hybrid network Your network extends into hybrid environments and may include private clouds running Cisco ACI, and on-premises devices. Managing network security policies in your multi-vendor estate is complex. Because your network is made up of multiple vendors and each part of your network estate is managed in its own silo, it is tough to get centralized management of your entire network. Making changes is a chore and validating security is difficult. Learn how to unify, consolidate, and automate your entire network security policy management across your Cisco and multi-vendor estate. In this session Roxana Diaz, Worldwide Technical Solutions Architect at Cisco, and Yonatan Klein, AlgoSec’s Director of Product, will discuss how to manage the Cisco and multi-cloud estate and how to: Capitalize on your Cisco ACI investment to take advantage of its full capabilities Bring centralized visibility, automation, and compliance monitoring into your Cisco and multi-vendor network ecosystem Get full visibility of your entire hybrid network estate, including items within the Cisco ACI security environment, as well as outside it, including Cisco firewalls and routers, as well as multi-vendor devices. Take advantage of Cisco Tetration Analytics and AlgoSec’s intelligent discovery to get a full picture of your network and application traffic and to design and provision a micro-segmentation network policy design. Unify, consolidate, and automate your network security policy management Proactively assess risk throughout your entire network, including Cisco ACI contracts, and recommend the necessary changes to eliminate misconfigurations and compliance violations June 10, 2020 Yonatan Klein irector of Product Management Roxana Diaz Worldwide Technical Solutions Architect at Cisco Relevant resources AlgoSec Joins Cisco’s Global Price List Keep Reading Migrating and Managing Security Policies in a Segmented Data Center Keep Reading AlgoSec Cisco ACI App Center Demo Watch Video Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Learn how ESG principles are driving sustainable environmental strategies Discover how companies integrate ESG to reduce footprint and contribute to a greener future Our environmental strategy 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 Environmental commitment and vision AlgoSec recognizes the importance of protecting the environment, we at AlgoSec are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and our waste by efficiently coding our product. For minimal environmental impact, the company has defined a long-term strategy, which includes working towards reinforcing its reduction goals and strengthening them through information and employee awareness. Our goal AlgoSec is determined to reduce our environmental impact, by striving to decrease the GHG emissions from our worldwide operations and from our products (as applicable), thus ensuring a safer and more sustainable future for us all. We are continuously looking for ways to maximize energy efficiency while minimizing water consumption and waste accumulation throughout our operations. Our next steps We are committed to infusing as part of our business plan strategic actions to advance reduction in GHG emissions, as part of Scope 1&2. We will continue to reduce our environmental impact by monitoring our progress and taking strategic actions to help achieve our goals. What we have achieved so far Implementation of a worldwide hybrid model since 2020, thus inducing a reduction in emissions spent on employee commuting, as well as electricity usage and water consumption. Waste management program – Reduce trash and the use of plastic at the office, in addition to recycling or reusing 99% of our electronic waste Raising employee awareness of effective use of energy in the office Product sustainability – we strive to increase the energy efficiency of our products by advanced product coding. Certification Verification Statement for GHG Scope 1&2: Additional related links: AA1000AS Reports | Accountability Global Sustainability Consultancy and Standards New York, London, Dubai, Riyadh BDO has conducted the assurance for AlgoSec Greenhouse Gas inventory for scopes 1 and 2 according to GHG protocola The assurance procedure was done according to the disclosures required by the AccountAbility AA1000AS v3 standard and the ISO 14064-3 verification methodology. The assurance process was conducted professionally, impartially and independently.

Navigating compliance in 2026: The path to automated security WhitePaper 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

What you do Matters Where your voice will always be heard and your opinion will always count Join our awesome team Our Values Teamwork and great work environment Customer satisfaction Excellence Accountability and execution Thorough decision-making process Diversity Equity Inclusion & Belonging 540+ employees Personal Coaching Mentoring Day in a life AlgoSec DEIB Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging We are passionate about People, Culture, Growth, Collaboration Our Vision: Secure Application Connectivity, Anywhere. 26 Location Worldwide

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

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

A firewall that runs 24/7 requires a good amount of computing resources. Especially if you are running a complex firewall system, your... Firewall Change Management Firewall performance tuning: Common issues & resolutions 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 8/9/23 Published A firewall that runs 24/7 requires a good amount of computing resources. Especially if you are running a complex firewall system, your performance overhead can actually slow down the overall throughput of your systems and even affect the actual functionalities of your firewall. Here is a brief overview of common firewall performance issues and the best practices to help you tune your firewall performance . 7 Common performance issues with firewalls Since firewall implementations often include some networking hardware usage, they can slow down network performance and traffic bottlenecks within your network. 1. High CPU usage The more network traffic you deal with, the more CPU time your server will need. When a firewall is running, it adds to CPU utilization since the processes need more power to execute the network packet analysis and subsequent firewall This may lead to firewall failures in extreme cases where the firewall process is completely shut down or the system experiences a noticeable lag affecting overall functionality. A simple way to resolve this issue would be to increase the hardware capabilities. But as that might not be a viable solution in all cases, you must consider minimizing the network traffic with router-level filtering or decreasing the server load with optimized 2. Route flapping Router misconfiguration or hardware failure can cause frequent advertising of alternate routes. This will increase the load on your resources and thus lead to performance issues. 3. Network errors and discards A high number of error packets or discarded packets can burden your resources as these packets are still processed by the firewall even when they ultimately turn out to be dud in terms of traffic. Such errors usually happen when routers try to reclaim some buffer space. 4. Congested network access link Network access link congestion can be caused due to a bottleneck happening between a high bandwidth IP Network and LAN. When there is high traffic, the router queue gets filled and causes jitters and time delays. When there are more occurrences of jitter, more packets are dropped on the receiving end, causing a degradation of the quality of audio or video being transmitted. This issue is often observed in VoIP systems . 5. Network link failure When packet loss continues for over a few seconds, it can be deemed a network link failure. While re-establishing the link could take just a few seconds, the routers may already be looking for alternate routes. Frequent network link failures can be a symptom of power supply or hardware issues. 6. Misconfigurations Software or hardware misconfigurations can easily lead to overloading of LAN, and such a burden can easily affect the system’s performance. Situations like these can be caused by misconfigured multicast traffic and can affect the overall data transfer rate of all users. 7. Loss of packets Loss of packets can cause timeout errors, retransmissions, and network slowness. Loss of packets can happen due to delayed operations, server slowdown, misconfiguration, and several other reasons. How to fine-Tune your firewall performance Firewall performance issues can be alleviated with hardware upgrades. But as you scale up, upgrading hardware at an increasing scale would mean high expenses and an overall inefficient system. A much better cost-effective way to resolve firewall performance issues would be to figure out the root cause and make the necessary updates and fixes to resolve the issues. Before troubleshooting, you should know the different types of firewall optimization techniques: Hardware updates Firewall optimization can be easily achieved through real-time hardware updates and upgrades. This is a straightforward method where you add more capacity to your computing resources to handle the processing load of running a firewall. General best practices This involves the commonly used universal best practices that ensure optimized firewall configurations and working. Security policies, data standard compliances , and keeping your systems up to date and patched will all come under this category of optimizations. Any optimization effort generally applied to all firewalls can be classified under this type. Vendor specific Optimization techniques designed specifically to fit the requirements of a particular vendor are called vendor-specific optimizations. This calls for a good understanding of your protected systems, how traffic flows, and how to minimize the network load. Model specific Similar to vendor-specific optimizations, model-specific optimization techniques consider the particular network model you use. For instance, the Cisco network models usually have debugging features that can slow down performance. Similarly, the PIX 6.3 model uses TCP intercept that can slow down performance. Based on your usage and requirements, you can turn the specific features on or off to boost your firewall performance. Best practices to resolve the usual firewall performance bottlenecks Here are some proven best practices to improve your firewall’s performance. Additionally, you might also want to read Max Power by Timothy Hall for a wholesome understanding. Standardize your network traffic Any good practice starts with rectifying your internal errors and vulnerabilities. Ensure all your outgoing traffic aligns with your cybersecurity standards and regulations. Weed out any application or server sending out requests that don’t comply with the security regulations and make the necessary updates to streamline your network. Router level filtering To reduce the load on your firewall applications and hardware, you can use router-level network traffic filtering. This can be achieved by making a Standard Access List filter from the previously dropped requests and then routing them using this list for any other subsequent request attempts. This process can be time-consuming but is simple and effective in avoiding bottlenecks. Avoid using complicated firewall rules Complex firewall rules can be resource heavy and place a lot of burden on your firewall performance. Simplifying this ruleset can boost your performance to a great extent. You should also regularly audit these rules and remove unused rules. To help you clean up firewall rules, you can start with Algosec’s firewall rule cleanup and performance optimization tool . Test your firewall Regular testing and auditing of your firewall can help you identify any probable causes for performance slowdown. You can collect information on your network traffic and use it to optimize how your firewall operates. You can use Algosec’s firewall auditor services to take care of all your auditing requirements and ensure compliance at all levels. Make use of common network troubleshooting tools To analyze the network traffic and troubleshoot your performance issues, you can use common network tools like netstat and iproute2. These tools provide you with network stats and in-depth information about your traffic that can be well utilized to improve your firewall configurations. You can also use check point servers and tools like SecureXL, and CoreXL. Follow a well-defined security policy As with any security implementation, you should always have a well-defined security policy before configuring your firewalls. This gives you a good idea of how your firewall configurations are made and lets you simplify them easily. Change management is also essential to your firewall policy management process . You should also document all the changes, reviews, and updates you make to your security policies to trace any problematic configurations and keep your systems updated against evolving cyber threats. A good way to mitigate security policy risks is to utilize AlgoSec. Network segmentation Segmentation can help boost performance as it helps isolate network issues and optimize bandwidth allocation. It can also help to reduce the traffic and thus further improve the performance. Here is a guide on network segmentation you can check out. Automation Make use of automation to update your firewall settings. Automating the firewall setup process can greatly reduce setup errors and help you make the process more efficient and less time-consuming. You can also extend the automation to configure routers and switches. Algobot is an intelligent chatbot that can effortlessly handle network security policy management tasks for you. Handle broadcast traffic efficiently You can create optimized rules to handle broadcast traffic without logging to improve performance. Make use of optimized algorithms Some firewalls, such as the Cisco Pix, ASA 7.0 , Juniper network models, and FWSM 4.0 are designed to match packets without dependency on rule order. You can use these firewalls; if not, you will have to consider the rule order to boost the performance. To improve performance, you should place the most commonly used policy rules on the top of the rule base. The SANS Institute recommends the following order of rules: Anti-spoofing filters User permit rules Management permit rules Noise drops Deny and alert Deny and log DNS objects Try to avoid using DNS objects that need DNS lookup services. This slows down the firewall. Router interface design Matching the router interface with your firewall interface is a good way to ensure good performance. If your router interface is half duplex and the firewall is full duplex, the mismatch can cause some performance issues. Similarly, you should try to match the switch interface with your firewall interface, making them report on the same speed and mode. For gigabit switches, you should set up your firewall to automatically adjust speed and duplex mode. You can replace the cables and patch panel ports if you cannot match the interfaces. VPN If you are using VPN and firewalls, you can separate them to remove some VPN traffic and processing load from the firewall and thus increase the performance. UTM features You can remove the additional UTM features like Antivirus, and URL scanning features from the firewall to make it more efficient. This does not mean you completely eliminate any additional security features. Instead, just offload them from the firewall to make the firewall work faster and take up fewer computing resources. Keep your systems patched and updated Always keep your systems, firmware, software, and third-party applications updated and patched to deal with all known vulnerabilities. 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 business case for unified hybrid cloud security and automation WhitePaper 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

Learn the basics of managing multiple workloads in the cloud and how to create a successful enterprise level security management program Webinars Merging the Cloud with Application Connectivity Discover the hottest trends and best practices for application-based security management As more companies make the leap into distributed architecture, the smallest gaps in network security can quickly become targets for attack. While an application-based security strategy can help you protect your hybrid cloud estate better, this shift in focus comes with its own challenges. In this webinar, we discuss: How securing application connectivity plays a key role in hybrid cloud risk management Why application orchestration is critical to managing your network within the hybrid cloud environment How to achieve effective cloud security solutions and best practices To learn more, go to https://www.algosec.com/resources/hub/hybrid_cloud/ September 27, 2022 Hillary Baron Cloud Security Alliance Oren Amiram Director Product Management, Algosec Relevant resources Firewall Rule Recertification with Application Connectivity Keep Reading What is cloud network security? Keep Reading Cloud migration: How to move applications to the cloud 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

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

Fortified network security requires getting a variety of systems and platforms to work together. Security teams need to scan for potential threats, look for new vulnerabilities in the network, and install software patches in order to keep these different parts working smoothly. While small organizations with dedicated cybersecurity teams may process these tasks manually at first, growing audit demands will quickly outpace their capabilities. Growing organizations and enterprises rely on... Firewall Policy Management 11 Best Network Security Audit Tools + Key Features 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 Fortified network security requires getting a variety of systems and platforms to work together. Security teams need to scan for potential threats, look for new vulnerabilities in the network, and install software patches in order to keep these different parts working smoothly. While small organizations with dedicated cybersecurity teams may process these tasks manually at first, growing audit demands will quickly outpace their capabilities. Growing organizations and enterprises rely on automation to improve IT security auditing and make sure their tech stack is optimized to keep hackers out. Network Security Audit Tools Explained Network Security Audit Tools provide at-a-glance visibility into network security operations and infrastructure. They scan network security tools throughout the environment and alert administrators of situations that require their attention. These situations can be anything from emerging threats, newly discovered vulnerabilities, or newly released patches for important applications. Your network security audit tools provide a centralized solution for managing the effectiveness of your entire security tech stack – including cloud-based software solutions and on-premises tools alike. With such a wide set of responsibilities, it should come as no surprise that many audit tools differ widely from one another. Some are designed for easy patch management while others may focus on intrusion detection or sensitive data exfiltration. Major platforms and operating systems may even include their own built-in audit tools. Microsoft Windows has an audit tool that focuses exclusively on Active Directory. However, enterprise security teams don’t want to clutter their processes with overlapping tools and interfaces – they want to consolidate their auditing tools onto platforms that allow for easy management and oversight. Types of Network Security Audit Tools Firewall Auditing Tools Firewall security rules provide clear instructions to firewalls on what kind of traffic is permitted to pass through. Firewalls can only inspect connections they are configured to detect . These rules are not static , however. Since the cybersecurity threat landscape is constantly changing, firewall administrators must regularly update their policies to accommodate new types of threats. At the same time, threat actors who infiltrate firewall management solutions can gain a critical advantage over their targets. They can change the organization’s security policies to ignore whatever malicious traffic they are planning on using to compromise the network. If these changes go unnoticed, even the best security technologies won’t be able to detect or respond to the threat. Security teams must regularly evaluate their firewall security policies to make sure they are optimized for the organization’s current risk profile. This means assessing the organization’s firewall rules and determining whether it is meeting its security needs. The auditing process may reveal overlapping rules, unexpected configuration changes , or other issues. Vulnerability Scanners Vulnerability scanners are automated tools that create an inventory of all IT assets in the organization and scan those assets for weak points that attackers may exploit. They also gather operational details of those assets and use that information to create a comprehensive map of the network and its security risk profile. Even a small organization may have thousands of assets. Hardware desktop workstations, laptop computers, servers, physical firewalls, and printers all require vulnerability scanning. Software assets like applications , containers, virtual machines, and host-based firewalls must also be scanned. Large enterprises need scanning solutions capable of handling enormous workloads rapidly. These tools provide security teams with three key pieces of information: Weaknesses that hackers know how to exploit . Vulnerability scanners work based on known threats that attackers have exploited in the past. They show security teams exactly where hackers could strike, and how. The degree of risk associated with each weakness . Since scanners have comprehensive information about every asset in the network, they can also predict the damage that might stem from an attack. This allows security teams to focus on high-priority risks first. Recommendations on how to address each weakness . The best vulnerability scanners provide detailed reports with in-depth information on how to mitigate potential threats. This gives security personnel step-by-step information on how to improve the organization’s security posture. Penetration Testing Tools Penetration testing allows organizations to find out how resilient their assets and processes might be in the face of an active cyberattack. Penetration testers use the same tools and techniques hackers use to exploit their victims, showing organizations whether their security policies actually work. Traditionally, penetration testing is carried out by two teams of cybersecurity professionals. The “red team” attempts to infiltrate the network and access sensitive data while the “blue team” takes on defense. Cybersecurity professionals should know how to use the penetration testing tools employed by hackers and red team operatives. Most of these tools have legitimate uses and are a fixture of many IT professionals’ toolkits. Some examples include: Port scanners . These identify open ports on a particular system. This can help users identify the operating system and find out what applications are running on the network. Vulnerability scanners . These search for known vulnerabilities in applications, operating systems, and servers. Vulnerability reports help penetration testers identify the most reliable entry point into a protected network. Network analyzers . Also called network sniffers, these tools monitor the data traveling through the network. They can provide penetration testers with information about who is communicating over the network, and what protocols and ports they are using. These tools help security professionals run security audits by providing in-depth data on how specific attack attempts might play out. Additional tools like web proxies and password crackers can also play a role in penetration testing, providing insight into the organization’s resilience against known threats. Key Functionalities of Network Security Audit Software Comprehensive network security audit solutions should include the following features: Real-time Vulnerability Assessment Network Discovery and Assessment Network Scanning for Devices and IP Addresses Identifying Network Vulnerabilities Detecting Misconfigurations and Weaknesses Risk Management Customizable Firewall Audit Templates Endpoint Security Auditing Assessing Endpoint Security Posture User Account Permissions and Data Security Identifying Malware and Security Threats Compliance Auditing Generating Compliance Audit Reports Compliance Standards and Regulations PCI DSS HIPAA GDPR NIST Integration and Automation with IT Infrastructure Notifications and Remediation User Interface and Ease of Use Operating System and Configuration Auditing Auditing Windows and Linux Systems User Permissions and Access Control Top 12 Network Security Audit Tools 1. AlgoSec AlgoSec simplifies firewall audits and allows organizations to continuously monitor their security posture against known threats and risks. It automatically identifies compliance gaps and other issues that can get in the way of optimal security performance, providing security teams with a single, consolidated view into their network security risk profile. 2. Palo Alto Networks Palo Alto Networks offers two types of network security audit solutions to its customers: The Prevention Posture Assessment is a questionnaire that helps Palo Alto customers identify security risks and close security gaps. The process is guided by a Palo Alto Networks sales engineer, who reviews your answers and identifies the areas of greatest risk within your organization. The Best Practice Assessment Tool is an automated solution for evaluating next-generation firewall rules according to Palo Alto Networks established best practices. It inspects and validates firewall rules and tells users how to improve their policies. 3. Check Point Check Point Software provides customers with a tool that monitors security security infrastructure and automates configuration optimization. It allows administrators to monitor policy changes in real-time and translate complex regulatory requirements into actionable practices. This reduces the risk of human error while allowing large enterprises to demonstrate compliance easily. The company also provides a variety of audits and assessments to its customers. These range from free remote self-test services to expert-led security assessments. 4. ManageEngine ManageEngine provides users with a network configuration manager with built-in reporting capabilities and automation. It assesses the network for assets and delivers detailed reports on bandwidth consumption, users and access levels, security configurations, and more. ManageEngine is designed to reduce the need for manual documentation, allowing administrators to make changes to their networks without having to painstakingly consult technical manuals first. Administrators can improve the decision-making process by scheduling ManageEngine reports at regular intervals and acting on its suggestions. 5. Tufin Tufin provides organizations with continuous compliance and audit tools designed for hybrid networks. It supports a wide range of compliance regulations, and can be customized for organization-specific use cases. Security administrators use Tufin to gain end-to-end visibility into their IT infrastructure and automate policy management. Tufin offers multiple network security audit tool tiers, starting from a simple centralized policy management tool to an enterprise-wide zero-touch automation platform. 6. SolarWinds SolarWinds is a popular tool for tracking configuration changes and generating compliance reports. It allows IT administrators to centralize device tracking and usage reviews across the network. Administrators can monitor configurations, make changes, and load backups from the SolarWinds dashboard. As a network security audit tool, SolarWinds highlights inconsistent configuration changes and non-compliant devices it finds on the network. This allows security professionals to quickly identify problems that need immediate attention. 7. FireMon FireMon Security Manager is a consolidated rule management solution for firewalls and cloud security groups. It is designed to simplify the process of managing complex rules on growing enterprise networks. Cutting down on misconfigurations mitigates some of the risks associated with data breaches and compliance violations. FireMon provides users with solutions to reduce risk, manage change, and enforce compliance. It features a real-time inventory of network assets and the rules that apply to them. 8. Nessus Tenable is renowned for the capabilities of its Nessus vulnerability scanning tool. It provides in-depth insights into network weaknesses and offers remediation guidance. Nessus is widely used by organizations to identify and address vulnerabilities in their systems and networks. Nessus provides security teams with unlimited IT vulnerability assessments, as well as configuration and compliance audits. It generates custom reports and can scan cloud infrastructure for vulnerabilities in real-time. 9. Wireshark Wireshark is a powerful network protocol analyzer. It allows you to capture and inspect data packets, making it invaluable for diagnosing network issues. It does not offer advanced automation or other features, however. WireShark is designed to give security professionals insight into specific issues that may impact traffic flows on networks. Wireshark is an open-source tool that is highly regarded throughout the security industry. It is one of the first industry-specific tools most cybersecurity professionals start using when obtaining certification. 10. Nmap (Network Mapper) Nmap is another open-source tool used for network discovery and security auditing. It excels in mapping network topology and identifying open ports. Like WireShark, it’s a widespread tool often encountered in cybersecurity certification courses. Nmap is known for its flexibility and is a favorite among network administrators and security professionals. It does not offer advanced automation on its own, but it can be automated using additional modules. 11. OpenVAS (Open Vulnerability Assessment System) OpenVAS is an open-source vulnerability scanner known for its comprehensive security assessments. It is part of a wider framework called Greenbone Vulnerability Management, which includes a selection of auditing tools offered under GPL licensing. That means anyone can access, use, and customize the tool. OpenVAS is well-suited to organizations that want to customize their vulnerability scanning assessments. It is particularly well-suited to environments that require integration with other security tools. Steps to Conduct a Network Security Audit Define the Scope : Start by defining the scope of your audit. You’ll need to determine which parts of your network and systems will be audited. Consider the goals and objectives of the audit, such as identifying vulnerabilities, ensuring compliance, or assessing overall security posture. Gather Information : Collect all relevant information about your network, including network diagrams, asset inventories, and existing security policies and procedures. This information will serve as a baseline for your audit. The more comprehensive this information is, the more accurate your audit results can be. Identify Assets : List all the assets on your network, including servers, routers, switches, firewalls, and endpoints. Ensure that you have a complete inventory of all devices and their configurations. If this information is not accurate, the audit may overlook important gaps in your security posture. Assess Vulnerabilities : Use network vulnerability scanning tools to identify vulnerabilities in your network. Vulnerability scanners like Nessus or OpenVAS can help pinpoint weaknesses in software, configurations, or missing patches. This process may take a long time if it’s not supported by automation. Penetration Testing : Conduct penetration testing to simulate cyberattacks and assess how well your network defenses hold up. Penetration testing tools like Metasploit or Burp Suite can help identify potential security gaps. Automation can help here, too – but the best penetration testing services emulate the way hackers work in the real world. Review Policies and Procedures : Evaluate the results of your vulnerability and penetration testing initiatives. Review your existing security policies and procedures to ensure they align with best practices and compliance requirements. Make necessary updates or improvements based on audit findings. Log Analysis : Analyze network logs to detect any suspicious or unauthorized activities. Log analysis tools like Splunk or ELK Stack can help by automating the process of converting log data into meaningful insights. Organizations equipped with SIEM platforms can analyze logs in near real-time and continuously monitor their networks for signs of unauthorized behavior. Review Access Controls : Ensure the organization’s access control policies are optimal. Review user permissions and authentication methods to prevent unauthorized access to critical resources. Look for policies and rules that drag down production by locking legitimate users out of files and folders they need to access. Firewall and Router Configuration Review: Examine firewall and router configurations to verify that they are correctly implemented and that access rules are up to date. Ensure that only necessary ports are open, and that the organization’s firewalls are configured to protect those ports. Prevent hackers from using port scanners or other tools to conduct reconnaissance. Patch Management : Check for missing patches and updates on all network devices and systems. Regularly update and patch software to address known vulnerabilities. Review recently patched systems to make sure they are still compatible with the tools and technologies they integrate with. Incident Response Plan : Review and update your incident response plan. Ensure the organization is prepared to respond effectively to security incidents, and can rely on up-to-date playbooks in the event of a breach. Compare incident response plans with the latest vulnerability scanning data and emerging threat intelligence information. Documentation and Reporting: Document all audit findings, vulnerabilities, and recommended remediation steps. Generate data visualizations that guide executives and other stakeholders through the security audit process and explain its results. Create a comprehensive report that includes an executive summary, technical details, and prioritized action items. Remediation : Implement the necessary changes and remediation measures to address the identified vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Deploy limited security resources effectively, prioritizing fixes based on their severity. Avoid unnecessary downtime when reconfiguring security tools and mitigating risk. Follow-Up Audits: Schedule regular follow-up audits to ensure that the identified vulnerabilities have been addressed and that security measures are continuously improved. Compare the performance metric data gathered through multiple audits and look for patterns emerging over time. Training and Awareness: Provide training and awareness programs for employees to enhance their understanding of security best practices and their role in maintaining network security. Keep employees well-informed about the latest threats and vulnerabilities they must look out for. FAQs What are some general best practices for network security auditing? Network security audits should take a close look at how the organization handles network configuration management over time. Instead of focusing only on how the organization’s current security controls are performing, analysts should look for patterns that predict how the organization will perform when new threats emerge in the near future. This might mean implementing real-time monitoring and measuring how long it takes for obsolete rules to get replaced. What is the ideal frequency for conducting network security audits? Network security audits should be conducted at least annually, with more frequent audits recommended for organizations with high-security requirements. Automated policy management platforms like AlgoSec can help organizations audit their security controls continuously. Are network security audit tools effective against zero-day vulnerabilities? Network security audit tools may not detect zero-day vulnerabilities immediately. However, they can still contribute by identifying other weaknesses that could be exploited in tandem with a zero-day vulnerability. They also provide information on how long it takes the organization to recognize new vulnerabilities once they are discovered. What should I look for when choosing a network security audit tool for my organization? Consider factors like the tool’s compatibility with your network infrastructure, reporting capabilities, support and updates, and its track record in identifying vulnerabilities relevant to your industry. Large enterprises highly value scalable tools that support automation. Can network security audit tools help with regulatory compliance? Yes, many audit tools offer compliance reporting features, helping organizations adhere to various industry and government regulations. Without an automated network security audit tool in place, many organizations would be unable to consistently demonstrate compliance. How long does it take to conduct a typical network security audit? The duration of an audit varies depending on the size and complexity of the network. A thorough audit can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Continuous auditing eliminates the need to disrupt daily operations when conducting audits, allowing security teams to constantly improve performance. What are the most common mistakes organizations make during network security audits? Common mistakes include neglecting to update audit tools regularly, failing to prioritize identified vulnerabilities, and not involving key stakeholders in the audit process. Overlooking critical assets like third-party user accounts can also lead to inaccurate audit results. What are some important capabilities needed for a Cloud-Based Security Audit? Cloud-based security audits can quickly generate valuable results by scanning the organization’s cloud-hosted IT assets for vulnerabilities and compliance violations. However, cloud-based audit software must be able to recognize and integrate third-party SaaS vendors and their infrastructure. Third-party tools and platforms can present serious security risks, and must be carefully inspected during the audit process. What is the role of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in Network Security Auditing? MSPs can use audits to demonstrate the value of their services and show customers where improvement is needed. Since this improvement often involves the customer drawing additional resources from the MSP, comprehensive audits can improve the profitability of managed service contracts and deepen the connection between MSPs and their customers. 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 goal of the AlgoSec Professional Services Team is to partner with you and enable you to meet your budget, time and resource constraints AlgoSec professional services Service offerings We offer a variety of à la carte Professional Services to help you quickly benefit from your AlgoSec investment. AlgoSec JumpStart packages View detailed information Through our new JumpStart packages we will deploy your AlgoSec products quickly and cost-effectively within your environment, so that you can start generating value from your AlgoSec investment as soon as possible Basic deployment of the AlgoSec security management suite View detailed information This service includes installing your AlgoSec appliances with the most recent build of the AlgoSec Security Management Suite including AlgoSec Horizon Security Analyzer and/or AlgoSec Horizon FireFlow and/or AlgoSec BusinessFlow, then verifying connectivity and defining devices. We will also verify that the reporting functionality works properly for each deployed device, and will provide sufficient knowledge transfer to enable you to perform basic operations in your AlgoSec environment. AlgoSec technical audit View detailed information Get a technical audit of your running AlgoSec environment – remotely or on-premises. Make sure you are optimally configured to get the best performance and functionality. Identify critical issues, receive insights and actionable suggestions to help you improve your network, identify issues that may have arisen since deployment, as well as recommendations for architectural improvements and optimization. AlgoSec Technical Audit is recommended once a year, and at least 6 months following initial deployment. Integration with existing Change Management Systems (CMS) View detailed information We can seamlessly integrate with any existing CMS including ServiceNow, Remedy, ServiceDesk and others. We can integrate your CMS system with AlgoSec via a Web Services call, as well as import historical change requests into AlgoSec. Advanced configuration View detailed information Suitable for complex, enterprise environments, this service includes verifying requirements and designing the appropriate topology for: High-Availability or Disaster-Recovery modes Load Distribution mode Geographical Distribution or Central-Manager / Remote-Agent mode Develop custom reports View detailed information We can create custom risk profiles and baseline configuration reports to meet your unique needs. Develop custom change workflows View detailed information While AlgoSec includes several out-of-the-box workflows, we can develop custom workflows to meet your unique needs. Customization options include creating the different steps in a change process, managing the ticket lifecycle based on your processes, dynamically routing tickets to required approvers and changing request form fields and appearance. Project management and customer success management View detailed information We can provide on-going project management to support your AlgoSec implementation. We provide regular status updates and meetings to ensure that the project is on schedule and meets your requirements. Schedule time with one of our experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* Long answer Send message