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Can Firewalls Be Hacked? Yes, Here’s 6 Vulnerabilities Like all security tools, firewalls can be hacked. That’s what happened to the... Cyber Attacks & Incident Response Can Firewalls Be Hacked? Yes, Here’s 6 Vulnerabilities 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 Can Firewalls Be Hacked? Yes, Here’s 6 Vulnerabilities Like all security tools, firewalls can be hacked. That’s what happened to the social media platform X in January 2023, when it was still Twitter. Hackers exploited an API vulnerability that had been exposed since June the previous year. This gave them access to the platform’s security system and allowed them to leak sensitive information on millions of users. This breach occurred because the organization’s firewalls were not configured to examine API traffic with enough scrutiny. This failure in firewall protection led to the leak of more than 200 million names, email addresses, and usernames, along with other information, putting victims at risk of identity theft . Firewalls are your organization’s first line of defense against malware and data breaches. They inspect all traffic traveling into and out of your network, looking for signs of cyber attacks and blocking malicious activity when they find it. This makes them an important part of every organization’s cybersecurity strategy. Effective firewall management and configuration is vital for preventing cybercrime. Read on to find out how you can protect your organization from attacks that exploit firewall vulnerabilities you may not be aware of. Understanding the 4 Types of Firewalls The first thing every executive and IT leader should know is that there are four basic types of firewalls . Each category offers a different level of protection, with simpler solutions costing less than more advanced ones. Most organizations need to use some combination of these four firewall types to protect sensitive data effectively. Keep in mind that buying more advanced firewalls is not always the answer. Optimal firewall management usually means deploying the right type of firewall for its particular use case. Ideally, these should be implemented alongside multi-layered network security solutions that include network detection and response, endpoint security, and security information and event management (SIEM) technology. 1. Packet Filtering Firewalls These are the oldest and most basic types of firewalls. They operate at the network layer, checking individual data packets for their source IP address and destination IP. They also verify the connection protocol, as well as the source port and destination port against predefined rules. The firewall drops packets that fail to meet these standards, protecting the network from potentially harmful threats. Packet filtering firewalls are among the fastest and cheapest types of firewalls available. Since they can not inspect the contents of data packets, they offer minimal functionality. They also can’t keep track of established connections or enforce rules that rely on knowledge of network connection states. This is why they are considered stateless firewalls. 2. Stateful Inspection Firewalls These firewalls also perform packet inspection, but they ingest more information about the traffic they inspect and compare that information against a list of established connections and network states. Stateful inspection firewalls work by creating a table that contains the IP and port data for traffic sources and destinations, and dynamically check whether data packets are part of a verified active connection. This approach allows stateful inspection firewalls to deny data packets that do not belong to a verified connection. However, the process of checking data packets against the state table consumes system resources and slows down traffic. This makes stateful inspection firewalls vulnerable to Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. 3. Application Layer Gateways These firewalls operate at the application layer, inspecting and managing traffic based on specific applications or protocols, providing deep packet inspection and content filtering. They are also known as proxy firewalls because they can be implemented at the application layer through a proxy device. In practice, this means that an external client trying to access your system has to send a request to the proxy firewall first. The firewall verifies the authenticity of the request and forwards it to an internal server. They can also work the other way around, providing internal users with access to external resources (like public web pages) without exposing the identity or location of the internal device used. 4. Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) Next-generation firewalls combine traditional firewall functions with advanced features such as intrusion prevention, antivirus, and application awareness . They contextualize data packet flows and enrich them with additional data, providing comprehensive security against a wide range of threats. Instead of relying exclusively on IP addresses and port information, NGFWs can perform identity-based monitoring of individual users, applications, and assets. For example, a properly configured NGFW can follow a single user’s network traffic across multiple devices and operating systems, providing an activity timeline even if the user switches between a desktop computer running Microsoft Windows and an Amazon AWS instance controlling routers and iOT devices. How Do These Firewalls Function? Each type of firewall has a unique set of functions that serve to improve the organization’s security posture and prevent hackers from carrying out malicious cyber attacks. Optimizing your firewall fleet means deploying the right type of solution for each particular use case throughout your network. Some of the most valuable functions that firewalls perform include: Traffic Control They regulate incoming and outgoing traffic, ensuring that only legitimate and authorized data flows through the network. This is especially helpful in cases where large volumes of automated traffic can slow down routine operations and disrupt operations. For example, many modern firewalls include rules designed to deny bot traffic. Some non-human traffic is harmless, like the search engine crawlers that determine your website’s ranking against certain keyword searches. However, the vast majority of bot traffic is either unnecessary or malicious. Firewalls can help you keep your infrastructure costs down by filtering out connection attempts from automated sources you don’t trust. Protection Against Cyber Threats Firewalls act as a shield against various cyber threats, including phishing attacks, malware and ransomware attacks . Since they are your first line of defense, any malicious activity that targets your organization will have to bypass your firewall first. Hackers know this, which is why they spend a great deal of time and effort finding ways to bypass firewall protection. They can do this by exploiting technical vulnerabilities in your firewall devices or by hiding their activities in legitimate traffic. For example, many firewalls do not inspect authenticated connections from trusted users. If cybercriminals learn your login credentials and use your authenticated account to conduct an attack, your firewalls may not notice the malicious activity at all. Network Segmentation By defining access rules, firewalls can segment networks into zones with varying levels of trust, limiting lateral movement for attackers. This effectively isolates cybercriminals into the zone they originally infiltrated, and increases the chance they make a mistake and reveal themselves trying to access additional assets throughout your network. Network segmentation is an important aspect of the Zero Trust framework. Firewalls can help reinforce the Zero Trust approach by inspecting traffic traveling between internal networks and dropping connections that fail to authenticate themselves. Security Policy Enforcement Firewalls enforce security policies, ensuring that organizations comply with their security standards and regulatory requirements. Security frameworks like NIST , ISO 27001/27002 , and CIS specify policies and controls that organizations need to implement in order to achieve compliance. Many of these frameworks stipulate firewall controls and features that require organizations to invest in optimizing their deployments. They also include foundational and organizational controls where firewalls play a supporting role, contributing to a stronger multi-layered cybersecurity strategy. Intrusion Detection and Prevention Advanced firewalls include intrusion detection and prevention capabilities, which can identify and block suspicious activities in real-time. This allows security teams to automate their response to some of the high-volume security events that would otherwise drag down performance . Automatically detecting and blocking known exploits frees IT staff to spend more time on high-impact strategic work that can boost the organization’s security posture. Logging and Reporting Firewalls generate logs and reports that assist in security analysis, incident response, and compliance reporting. These logs provide in-depth data on who accessed the organization’s IT assets, and when the connection occurred. They enable security teams to conduct forensic investigations into security incidents, driving security performance and generating valuable insights into the organization’s real-world security risk profile. Organizations that want to implement SIEM technology must also connect their firewall devices to the platform and configure them to send log data to their SIEM for centralized analysis. This gives security teams visibility into the entire organization’s attack surface and enables them to adopt a Zero Trust approach to managing log traffic. Common Vulnerabilities & Weaknesses Firewalls Share Firewalls are crucial for network security, but they are not immune to vulnerabilities. Common weaknesses most firewall solutions share include: Zero-day vulnerabilities These are vulnerabilities in firewall software or hardware that are unknown to the vendor or the general public. Attackers can exploit them before patches or updates are available, making zero-day attacks highly effective. Highly advanced NGFW solutions can protect against zero-day attacks by inspecting behavioral data and using AI-enriched analysis to detect unknown threats. Backdoors Backdoors are secret entry points left by developers or attackers within a firewall’s code. These hidden access points can be exploited to bypass security measures. Security teams must continuously verify their firewall configurations to identify the signs of backdoor attacks. Robust and effective change management solutions help prevent backdoors from remaining hidden. Header manipulation Attackers may manipulate packet headers to trick firewalls into allowing unauthorized traffic or obscuring their malicious intent. There are multiple ways to manipulate the “Host” header in HTTP traffic to execute attacks. Security teams need to configure their firewalls and servers to validate incoming HTTP traffic and limit exposure to header vulnerabilities. How Cyber Criminals Exploit These Vulnerabilities Unauthorized Access Exploiting a vulnerability can allow cybercriminals to penetrate a network firewall, gaining access to sensitive data, proprietary information, or critical systems. Once hackers gain unauthorized access to a network asset, only a well-segmented network operating on Zero Trust principles can reliably force them to reveal themselves. Otherwise, they will probably remain hidden until they launch an active attack. Data Breaches Once inside your network, attackers may exfiltrate sensitive information, including customer data, intellectual property, and financial records (like credit cards), leading to data breaches. These complex security incidents can lead to major business disruptions and reputational damage, as well as enormous recovery costs. Malware Distribution Attackers may use compromised firewalls to distribute malware, ransomware, or malicious payloads to other devices within the network. This type of attack may focus on exploiting your systems and network assets, or it may target networks adjacent to your own – like your third-party vendors, affiliate partners, or customers. Denial of Service (DDoS) Exploited firewalls can be used in DDoS attacks, potentially disrupting network services and rendering them unavailable to users. This leads to expensive downtime and reputational damage. Some hackers try to extort their victims directly, demanding organizations pay money to stop the attack. 6 Techniques Used to Bypass Firewalls 1. Malware and Payload Delivery Attackers use malicious software and payloads to exploit firewall vulnerabilities, allowing them to infiltrate networks or systems undetected. This often occurs due to unpatched security vulnerabilities in popular firewall operating systems. For example, in June 2023 Fortinet addressed a critical-severity FortiOS vulnerability with a security patch. One month later in July, there were still 300,000 Fortinet firewalls still using the unpatched operating system. 2. Phishing Attacks Phishing involves tricking individuals into divulging sensitive information or executing malicious actions. Attackers use deceptive emails or websites that may bypass firewall filters. If they gain access to privileged user account credentials, they may be able to bypass firewall policies entirely, or even reconfigure firewalls themselves. 3. Social Engineering Tactics Cybercriminals manipulate human psychology to deceive individuals into disclosing confidential information, effectively bypassing technical security measures like firewalls. This is typically done through social media, email, or by telephone. Attackers may impersonate authority figures both inside and outside the organization and demand access to sensitive assets without going through the appropriate security checks. 4. Deep Packet Inspection Evasion Attackers employ techniques to disguise malicious traffic, making it appear benign to firewalls using deep packet inspection, allowing it to pass through undetected. Some open-source tools like SymTCP can achieve this by running symbolic executions on the server’s TCP implementation, scanning the resulting execution paths, and sending malicious data through any handling discrepancies identified. 5. VPNs and Remote Access Attackers may use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and remote access methods to circumvent firewall restrictions and gain unauthorized entry into networks. This is particularly easy in cases where simple geo restrictions block traffic from IP addresses associated with certain countries or regions. Attackers may also use more sophisticated versions of this technique to access exposed services that don’t require authentication, like certain containerized servers . 6. Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) Bypass Sophisticated attackers attempt to evade IPS systems by crafting traffic patterns or attacks that go undetected, enabling them to compromise network security. For example, they may use technologies to decode remote access tool executable files hidden inside certificate files, allowing them to reassemble the malicious file after it passes through the IPS. Protecting Against Firewall Vulnerabilities Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide multiple forms of identification, such as a password and a one-time code sent to their mobile device, before they gain access. This prevents attackers from accessing sensitive network assets immediately after stealing privileged login credentials. Knowing an account holder’s password and username is not enough. Two-factor Authentication (2FA) 2FA is a subset of MFA that involves using two authentication factors, typically something the user knows (password) and something the user has (a mobile device or security token), to verify identity and enhance firewall security. Other versions use biometrics like fingerprint scanning to authenticate the user. Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) IPS solutions work alongside firewalls to actively monitor network traffic for suspicious activity and known attack patterns, helping to block or mitigate threats before they can breach the network. These systems significantly reduce the amount of manual effort that goes into detecting and blocking known malicious attack techniques. Web Application Firewalls (WAF) WAFs are specialized firewalls designed to protect web applications from a wide range of threats, including SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other web-based attacks. Since these firewalls focus specifically on HTTP traffic, they are a type of application level gateway designed specifically for web applications that interact with users on the public internet. Antivirus Software and Anti-malware Tools Deploying up-to-date antivirus and anti-malware software on endpoints, servers, and Wi-Fi network routers helps detect and remove malicious software, reducing the risk of firewall compromise. In order to work effectively, these tools must be configured to detect and mitigate the latest threats alongside the organization’s other security tools and firewalls. Automated solutions can help terminate unauthorized processes before attackers get a chance to deliver malicious payloads. Regular Updates and Patch Management Keeping firewalls and all associated software up-to-date with the latest security patches and firmware updates is essential for addressing known vulnerabilities and ensuring optimal security. Security teams should know when configuration changes are taking place, and be equipped to respond quickly when unauthorized changes take place. Implementing a comprehensive visibility and change management platform like AlgoSec makes this possible. With AlgoSec, you can simulate the effects of network configuration changes and proactively defend against sophisticated threats before attackers have a chance to strike. Monitoring Network Traffic for Anomalies Continuous monitoring of network traffic helps identify unusual patterns or behaviors that may indicate a security incident. Anomalies can trigger alerts for further investigation and response. Network detection and response solutions grant visibility into network activities that would otherwise go unnoticed, potentially giving security personnel early warning when unannounced changes or suspicious behaviors take place. Streamline Your Firewall Security With AlgoSec Organizations continue to face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, including attacks that capitalize on misconfigured firewalls – or manipulate firewall configurations directly. Firewall management software has become a valuable tool for maintaining a robust network security posture and ensuring regulatory compliance. AlgoSec plays a vital role enhancing firewall security by automating policy analysis, optimizing rule sets, streamlining change management, and providing real-time monitoring and visibility. Find out how to make the most of your firewall deployment and detect unauthorized changes to firewall configurations with our help. 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... 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AlgoSec’s Integration with ServiceNow allows AlgoSec users to automate security change management and accelerate application deployments... Information Security AlgoSec and ServiceNow: Managing Network Security Policies and Processes Within ServiceNow Amir Erel 2 min read Amir Erel Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 2/3/20 Published AlgoSec’s Integration with ServiceNow allows AlgoSec users to automate security change management and accelerate application deployments within their existing ServiceNow platform It isn’t easy for organizations to get holistic visibility and management across their increasingly complex, hybrid network environments. Application owners need to make changes to existing applications or launch new ones quickly to drive the business. Meanwhile, IT and security teams must maintain security, reduce the risk of outages and misconfigurations, and meet audit and compliance demands. It’s a difficult balance to achieve. In our 2019 cloud security survey , a lack of visibility into their entire network estate and seamless management of cloud and on-prem environments were two of the biggest challenges cited by organizations. Over 40% also reported having a network or application outage, with the leading cause being operational or human errors in making changes. So robust network security management and automation of processes are increasingly mission-critical. To manage network security changes efficiently, application owners prefer to use the familiar tools and workflows that they already know, while security owners need to understand the business context of the policies to ensure that they are making the right decisions to protect the organization’s assets. AlgoSec’s integration with ServiceNow’s IT Service Management solution allows these different stakeholders to share a single management. This bridges the gap between application and security teams and gives them both a holistic view of security, risk and compliance across their entire network environment. This, in turn, accelerates application delivery and strengthens the organization’s security and compliance postures. By integrating the AlgoSec Security Management Suite with ServiceNow, organizations can automate and enrich security policy change management while remaining entirely within the tool their team is already using, with the added benefit of business context. The solution works seamlessly with existing processes and workflows, which helps accelerate the rate of adoption across entire networks. Automating change management processes Making a single change in a complex enterprise environment could take days or even weeks. Using intelligent, highly customizable workflows, AlgoSec automates the entire security policy change process – from planning and design through to submission, proactive risk analysis, implementation, validation and auditing – all with zero-touch, enabling organizations to reduce change request processing times to minutes. By working with the tools that your organization is already familiar with, you don’t need to learn new workflows and user interfaces. Your application and IT teams can continue to use the tools they already know, and encourage organizational buy-in for automated network security policy change management. For more information on AlgoSec’s integration with ServiceNow, download the datasheet or watch the demo . 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

Organizations no longer keep their data in one centralized location. Users and assets responsible for processing data may be located... Zero Trust How to Create a Zero Trust Network Tsippi Dach 2 min read Tsippi Dach Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 2/12/24 Published Organizations no longer keep their data in one centralized location. Users and assets responsible for processing data may be located outside the network, and may share information with third-party vendors who are themselves removed from those external networks. The Zero Trust approach addresses this situation by treating every user, asset, and application as a potential attack vector whether it is authenticated or not. This means that everyone trying to access network resources will have to verify their identity, whether they are coming from inside the network or outside. What are the Zero Trust Principles and Concepts? The Zero Trust approach is made up of six core concepts that work together to mitigate network security risks and reduce the organization’s attack surface. 1. The principle of least privilege Under the Zero Trust model, network administrators do not provide users and assets with more network access than strictly necessary. Access to data is also revoked when it is no longer needed. This requires security teams to carefully manage user permissions , and to be able to manage permissions based on users’ identities or roles. The principle of least privilege secures the enterprise network ecosystem by limiting the amount of damage that can result from a single security failure. If an attacker compromises a user’s account, it won’t automatically gain access to a wide range of systems, tools, and workloads beyond what that account is provisioned for. This can also dramatically simplify the process of responding to security events, because no user or asset has access to assets beyond the scope of their work. 2. Continuous data monitoring and validation Zero trust policy assumes that there are attackers both inside and outside the network. To guarantee the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of network assets, it must continuously evaluate users and assets on the network. User identity and privileges must be checked periodically along with device identity and security. Organizations accomplish this in a variety of ways. Connection and login time-outs are one way to ensure periodic monitoring and validation since it requires users to re-authenticate even if they haven’t done anything suspicious. This helps protect against the risk of threat actors using credential-based attacks to impersonate authenticated users, as well as a variety of other attacks. 3. Device access control Organizations undergoing the Zero Trust journey must carefully manage and control the way users interact with endpoint devices. Zero Trust relies on verifying and authenticating user identities separately from the devices they use. For example, Zero Trust security tools must be able to distinguish between two different individuals using the same endpoint device. This approach requires fundamental changes to the way certain security tools work. For example, firewalls that allow or deny access to network assets based purely on IP address and port information aren’t sufficient. Most end users have more than one device at their disposal, and it’s common for mobile devices to change IP addresses. As a result, the cybersecurity tech stack needs to be able to grant and revoke permissions based on the user’s actual identity or role. 4. Network micro segmentation Network segmentation is a good security practice even outside the Zero Trust framework, but it takes on special significance when threats can come from inside and outside the network. Microsegmentation takes this one step further by breaking regular network segments down into small zones with their own sets of permissions and authorizations. These microsegments can be as small as a single asset, and an enterprise data center may have dozens of separately secured zones like these. Any user or asset with permission to access one zone will not necessarily have access to any of the others. Microsegmentation improves security resilience by making it harder for attackers to move between zones. 5. Detecting lateral movement Lateral movement is when threat actors move from one zone to another in the network. One of the benefits of micro segmentation is that threat actors must interact with security tools in order to move between different zones on the network. Even if the attackers are successful, their activities generate logs and audit trails that analysts can follow when investigating security incidents. Zero Trust architecture is designed to contain attackers and make it harder for them to move laterally through networks. When an attack is detected, the compromised asset can be quarantined from the rest of the network. Assets can be as small as individual devices or user accounts, or as large as entire network segments. The more granular your security architecture is, the more choices you have for detecting and preventing lateral movement on the network. 6. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) Passwords are a major problem for traditional security models, because most security tools automatically extend trust to anyone who knows the password. Once a malicious actor learns a privileged user’s login credentials, they can bypass most security checks by impersonating that user. Multi-factor authentication solves that problem by requiring users to provide more information. Knowing a password isn’t enough – users must authenticate by proving their identity in another way. These additional authentication factors can come in the form of biometrics, challenge/response protocols, or hardware-based verifications. How To Implement a Zero Trust Network 1. Map Out Your Attack Surface There is no one-size-fits-all solution for designing and implementing Zero Trust architecture. You must carefully define your organization’s attack surface and implement solutions that protect your most valuable assets. This will require a variety of tools, including firewalls, user access controls, permissions, and encryption. You will need to segment your network into individual zones and use microsegmentation to secure high-value and high-volume zones separately. Pay close attention to how your organization secures its most important assets and connections: Sensitive data . This might include customer and employee data, proprietary information, and intellectual property that you can’t allow threat actors to gain access to. It should benefit from the highest degree of security. Critical applications. These applications play a central role in your organization’s business processes, and must be protected against the risk of disruption. Many of them process sensitive data and must benefit from the same degree of security. Physical assets. This includes everything from customer-facing kiosks to hardware servers located in a data center. Access control is vital for preventing malicious actors from interacting with physical assets. Third-party services. Your organization relies on a network of partners and service providers, many of whom need privileged access to your data. Your Zero Trust policy must include safeguards against attacks that compromise third-party partners in your supply chain. 2. Implement Zero Trust Controls using Network Security Tools The next step in your Zero Trust journey is the implementation of security tools that allow you collect, analyze, and respond to user behaviors on your network. This may require the adjustment of your existing security tech stack, and the addition of new tools designed for Zero Trust use cases. Firewalls must be able to capture connection data beyond the traditional IP, port, and protocol data that most simple solutions rely on. The Zero Trust approach requires inspecting the identities of users and assets that connect with network assets, which requires more advanced firewall technology. This is possible with next generation firewall (NGFW) technology. VPNs may need to be reconfigured or replaced because they do not typically enforce the principle of least privilege. Usually, VPNs grant users access to the entire connected network – not just one small portion of it. In most cases, organizations pursuing Zero Trust stop using VPNs altogether because they no longer provide meaningful security benefits. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) provides secure access to network resources while concealing network infrastructure and services. It is similar to a software-defined perimeter that dynamically responds to network changes and grants flexibility to security policies. ZTNA works by establishing one-to-one encrypted connections between network assets, making imprecise VPNs largely redundant. 3. Configure for Identity and Access Management Identity-based monitoring is one of the cornerstones of the Zero Trust approach. In order to accurately grant and revoke permissions to users and assets on the network, you must have some visibility into the identities behind the devices being used. Zero Trust networks verify user identities in a variety of ways. Some next-generation firewalls can distinguish between user traffic, device traffic, application traffic, and content. This allows the firewall to assign application sessions to individual users and devices, and inspect the data being transmitted between individuals on networks. In practice, this might mean configuring a firewall to compare outgoing content traffic with an encrypted list of login credentials. If a user accidentally logs onto a spoofed phishing website and enters their login credentials, the firewall can catch the data before it is transferred off the network. This would not be possible without the ability to distinguish between different types of traffic using next-generation firewall technology. Multi-factor authentication is also vital to identity and access management. A Zero Trust network should not automatically authenticate a user who presents the correct username and password combination to access a secure account. This does not prove the identity of the individual who owns the account – it only proves that the individual knows the username and password. Additional verification factors make it more likely that this person is, in fact, the owner of the account. 4. Create a Zero Trust Policy for Your IT Environment The process of implementing Zero Trust policies in cloud-native environments can be complex. Every third-party vendor and service provider has a role to play in establishing and maintaining Zero Trust. This often puts significant technical demands on third-party partners, which may require organizations to change their existing agreements. If a third-party partner cannot support Zero Trust, they can’t be allowed onto the network. The same is true for on-premises and data center environments, but with added emphasis on physical security and access control. Security leaders need to know who has physical access to servers and similar assets so they can conduct investigations into security incidents properly. Data centers need to implement strict controls on who interacts with protected equipment and how their access is supervised. How to Operationalize Zero Trust Your Zero Trust implementation will not automatically translate to an operational security context that you can immediately use. You will need to adopt security operations that reflect the Zero Trust strategy and launch adaptive security measures that address vulnerabilities in real-time. Gain visibility into your network. Your network perimeter is no longer strictly defined by its hardware. It consists of cloud resources, automated workflows, operating systems, and more. You won’t be able to enforce Zero Trust without gaining visibility into every aspect of your network environment. Monitor network infrastructure and traffic. Your security team will need to monitor and respond to access requests coming from inside and outside your network. This can lead to significant bottlenecks if your team is not equipped with solutions for automatically managing network traffic and access. Streamline detection and response. Zero Trust networks mitigate the risks of cyberattacks, malware, ransomware, and other potential threats, but it’s still up to individual security analysts to detect and investigate security incidents. The volume of data analysts must inspect may increase significantly, so you should be prepared to mitigate the issue of alert fatigue. Automate Endpoint Security. Consider implementing an automated Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solution that can identify malicious behaviors on network devices and address them in real-time. Implement Zero Trust With AlgoSec AlgoSec is a global cybersecurity leader that provides secure application connectivity and policy management through a unified platform. It aligns with Zero Trust principles to provide comprehensive traffic flow analysis and optimization while automated policy changes and eliminating the risk of compliance violations. Security leaders rely on AlgoSec to implement and operationalize Zero Trust deployments while proactively managing complex security policies . AlgoSec can help you establish a Zero Trust network quickly and efficiently, providing visibility and change management capabilities to your entire security tech stack and enabling security personnel to address misconfiguration risks in real-time. Book a demo now to find out how AlgoSec can help you adopt Zero Trust security and prevent attackers from infiltrating your organization. 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

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

Webinars Radically reduce firewall rules with application-driven rule recertification Does your network still have obsolete firewall rules? Do you often feel overwhelmed with the number of firewall rules in your network? To make sure your network is secure and compliant, you need to regularly review and recertify firewall rules. However, manual firewall rule recertification is complex, time-consuming and error-prone, and mistakes may cause application outages. Discover a better way to recertify your firewall rules with Asher Benbenisty, AlgoSec’s Director of Product Marketing, as he discusses how associating application connectivity with your firewall rules can radically reduce the number of firewall rules on your network as well as the efforts involved in rule recertification. In this webinar, we will discuss: The importance of regularly reviewing and recertifying your firewall rules Integrating application connectivity into your firewall rule recertification process Automatically managing the rule-recertification process using an application-centric approach October 14, 2020 Asher Benbenisty Director of product marketing Relevant resources Changing the rules without risk: mapping firewall rules to business applications Keep Reading AlgoSec AppViz – Rule Recertification 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

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

Webinars Beyond Connectivity: A Masterclass in Network Security with Meraki & AlgoSec Learn details of how to overcome common network security challenges, how to streamline your security management, and how to boost your security effectiveness with AlgoSec and Cisco Meraki’s enhanced integration. This webinar highlights real-world examples of organizations that have successfully implemented AlgoSec and Cisco Meraki solutions. January 18, 2024 Relevant resources Cisco Meraki – Visibility, Risk & Compliance Demo Watch Video 5 ways to enrich your Cisco security posture with AlgoSec 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

The move from traditional data centers to a hybrid cloud network environment has revolutionized the way enterprises construct their... Hybrid Cloud Security Management Deconstructing the Complexity of Managing Hybrid Cloud Security 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 4/4/22 Published The move from traditional data centers to a hybrid cloud network environment has revolutionized the way enterprises construct their networks, allowing them to reduce hardware and operational costs, scale per business needs and be more agile. When enterprises choose to implement a hybrid cloud model, security is often one of the primary concerns. The additional complexity associated with a hybrid cloud environment can, in turn, make securing resources to a single standard extremely challenging. This is especially true when it comes to managing the behavioral and policy nuances of business applications . Moreover, hybrid cloud security presents an even greater challenge when organizations are unable to fully control the lifecycle of the public cloud services they are using. For instance, when an organization is only responsible for hosting a portion of its business-critical workloads on the public cloud and has little to no control over the hosting provider, it is unlikely to be able to enforce consistent security standards across both environments. Managing hybrid cloud security Hybrid cloud security requires an extended period of planning and investment for enterprises to become secure. This is because hybrid cloud environments are inherently complex and typically involve multiple providers. To effectively manage these complex environments, organizations will require a comprehensive approach to security that addresses each of the following challenges: Strategic planning and oversight : Policy design and enforcement across hybrid clouds Managing multiple vendor relationships and third-party security controls : Cloud infrastructure security controls, security products provided by cloud and third-party providers and third-party on-premise security vendor products. Managing security-enabling technologies in multiple environments : on-premise, public cloud and private cloud. Managing multiple stakeholders : CISO, IT/Network Security, SecOps, DevOps and Cloud teams. Workflow automation : Auto responding to changing business demands requiring provisioning of policy changes automatically and securely across the hybrid cloud estate. Optimizing security and agility : Aligning risk tolerance with the DevOps teams to manage business application security and connectivity. With these challenges in mind, here are 5 steps you can take to effectively address hybrid cloud security challenges. Step 1. Define the security objectives A holistic approach to high availability is focused on the two critical elements of any hybrid cloud environment: technology and processes. Defining a holistic strategy in a hybrid cloud environment has these advantages: Improved operational availability : Ensure continuous application connectivity, data, and system availability across the hybrid estate. Reduced risk : Understand threats to business continuity from natural disasters or facility disruptions. Better recovery : Maintain data consistency by mirroring critical data between primary locations in case of failure at one site through multiple backup sites. Step 2. Visualize the entire network topology The biggest potential point of failure for hybrid cloud deployment is where the public cloud and private environment offerings meet. This can result in a visual gap often due to disparities between in-house security protocols and third-party security standards, precluding SecOps teams from securing the connectivity of business applications. The solution lies in gaining complete visibility across the entire hybrid cloud estate. This requires having the right solution in place that can help SecOps teams discover, track and migrate application connectivity without regard for the underlying infrastructure. Step 3. Use automation for adaptability and scalability The ability to adapt and scale on demand is one of the most significant advantages of a hybrid cloud environment. Invariably, when considering the range of benefits of a hybrid cloud, it is difficult to conceptualize the power of scaling on demand. Still, enterprises can enjoy tremendous benefits when they correctly implement automation that can respond on-demand to necessary changes. With the right change automation solution, change requests can be easily defined and pushed through the workflow without disrupting the existing network security policy rules or introducing new potential risks. Step 4. Minimize the learning curb According to a 2021 Global Knowledge and IT Skills report , 76% of IT decision-makers experience critical skills gaps in their teams. Hybrid cloud deployment is a complicated process, with the largest potential point of failure being where in-house security protocols and third-party standards interact. If this gap is not closed, malicious actors or malware could slip through it. Meeting this challenge requires a unification of all provisions made to policy changes so that SecOps teams can become familiar with them, regardless of any new device additions to the network security infrastructure. This would be applicable to provisions associated with policy changes across all firewalls, segments, zones, micro‐segments, security groups and zones, and within each business application. Step 5. Get compliant Compliance cannot be guaranteed when the enterprise cannot monitor all vendors and platforms or enforce their policies in a standard manner. This can be especially challenging when attempting to apply compliance standardizations across an infrastructure that consists of a multi-vendor hybrid network environment. To address this issue, enterprises must get their SecOps teams to shift their focus away from pure technology management and toward a larger scale view that ensures that their network security policies consistently comply with regulatory requirements across the entire hybrid cloud estate. Summary Hybrid cloud security presents a significant—and often overlooked—challenge for enterprises. This is because hybrid cloud environments are inherently complex, involving multiple providers, and impact how enterprises manage their business applications and overall IT assets. To learn how to reach your optimal hybrid cloud security solution, read more and find out how you can simplify your journey. 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

In this webinar, our experts demonstrate the usage of Objectflow in managing network objects Webinars Introducing Objectflow: Network Security Objects Made Simple In this webinar, our experts demonstrate the usage of Objectflow in managing network objects. January 31, 2022 Yoni Geva Product Manager Jacqueline Basil Product Marketing Manager Relevant resources AlgoSec AppViz – Rule Recertification Watch Video Changing the rules without risk: mapping firewall rules to business applications Keep Reading Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Security Policy Management with Professor Wool Best Practices for Amazon Web Services Security Best Practices for Amazon Web Services (AWS) Security is a whiteboard-style series of lessons that examine the challenges of and provide technical tips for managing security across hybrid data centers utilizing the AWS IaaS platform. Lesson 1 In this lesson Professor Wool provides an overview of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Security Groups and highlights some of the differences between Security Groups and traditional firewalls. The lesson continues by explaining some of the unique features of AWS and the challenges and benefits of being able to apply multiple Security Groups to a single instance. The Fundamentals of AWS Security Groups Watch Lesson 2 Outbound traffic rules in AWS Security Groups are, by default, very wide and insecure. In addition, during the set-up process for AWS Security Groups the user is not intuitively guided through a set up process for outbound rules – the user must do this manually. In this lesson, Professor Wool, highlights the limitations and consequences of leaving the default rules in place, and provides recommendations on how to define outbound rules in AWS Security Groups in order to securely control and filter outbound traffic and protect against data leaks. Protect Outbound Traffic in an AWS Hybrid Environment Watch Lesson 3 Once you start using AWS for production applications, auditing and compliance considerations come into play, especially if these applications are processing data that is subject to regulations such as PCI, HIPAA, SOX etc. In this lesson, Professor Wool reviews AWS’s own auditing tools, CloudWatch and CloudTrail, which are useful for cloud-based applications. However if you are running a hybrid data center, you will likely need to augment these tools with solutions that can provide reporting, visibility and change monitoring across the entire environment. Professor Wool provides some recommendations for key features and functionally you’ll need to ensure compliance, and tips on what the auditors are looking for. Change Management, Auditing and Compliance in an AWS Hybrid Environment Watch Lesson 4 In this lesson Professor Wool examines the differences between Amazon's Security Groups and Network Access Control Lists (NACLs), and provides some tips and tricks on how to use them together for the most effective and flexible traffic filtering for your enterprise. Using AWS Network ACLs for Enhanced Traffic Filtering Watch Lesson 5 AWS security is very flexible and granular, however it has some limitations in terms of the number of rules you can have in a NACL and security group. In this lesson Professor Wool explains how to combine security groups and NACLs filtering capabilities in order to bypass these capacity limitations and achieve the granular filtering needed to secure enterprise organizations. Combining Security Groups and Network ACLs to Bypass AWS Capacity Limitations Watch Lesson 6 In this whiteboard video lesson Professor Wool provides best practices for performing security audits across your AWS estate. The Right Way to Audit AWS Policies Watch Lesson 7 How to Intelligently Select the Security Groups to Modify When Managing Changes in your AWS Watch Lesson 8 Learn more about AlgoSec at http://www.algosec.com and read Professor Wool's blog posts at http://blog.algosec.com How to Manage Dynamic Objects in Cloud Environments Watch Have a Question for Professor Wool? Ask him now 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

As you may have heard already, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a joint... Cloud Security Drovorub’s Ability to Conceal C2 Traffic And Its Implications For Docker Containers 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 8/15/20 Published As you may have heard already, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory about previously undisclosed Russian malware called Drovorub. According to the report, the malware is designed for Linux systems as part of its cyber espionage operations. Drovorub is a Linux malware toolset that consists of an implant coupled with a kernel module rootkit, a file transfer and port forwarding tool, and a Command and Control (C2) server. The name Drovorub originates from the Russian language. It is a complex word that consists of 2 roots (not the full words): “drov” and “rub” . The “o” in between is used to join both roots together. The root “drov” forms a noun “drova” , which translates to “firewood” , or “wood” . The root “rub” /ˈruːb/ forms a verb “rubit” , which translates to “to fell” , or “to chop” . Hence, the original meaning of this word is indeed a “woodcutter” . What the report omits, however, is that apart from the classic interpretation, there is also slang. In the Russian computer slang, the word “drova” is widely used to denote “drivers” . The word “rubit” also has other meanings in Russian. It may mean to kill, to disable, to switch off. In the Russian slang, “rubit” also means to understand something very well, to be professional in a specific field. It resonates with the English word “sharp” – to be able to cut through the problem. Hence, we have 3 possible interpretations of ‘ Drovorub ‘: someone who chops wood – “дроворуб” someone who disables other kernel-mode drivers – “тот, кто отрубает / рубит драйвера” someone who understands kernel-mode drivers very well – “тот, кто (хорошо) рубит в драйверах” Given that Drovorub does not disable other drivers, the last interpretation could be the intended one. In that case, “Drovorub” could be a code name of the project or even someone’s nickname. Let’s put aside the intricacies of the Russian translations and get a closer look into the report. DISCLAIMER Before we dive into some of the Drovorub analysis aspects, we need to make clear that neither FBI nor NSA has shared any hashes or any samples of Drovorub. Without the samples, it’s impossible to conduct a full reverse engineering analysis of the malware. Netfilter Hiding According to the report, the Drovorub-kernel module registers a Netfilter hook. A network packet filter with a Netfilter hook ( NF_INET_LOCAL_IN and NF_INET_LOCAL_OUT ) is a common malware technique. It allows a backdoor to watch passively for certain magic packets or series of packets, to extract C2 traffic. What is interesting though, is that the driver also hooks the kernel’s nf_register_hook() function. The hook handler will register the original Netfilter hook, then un-register it, then re-register the kernel’s own Netfilter hook. According to the nf_register_hook() function in the Netfilter’s source , if two hooks have the same protocol family (e.g., PF_INET ), and the same hook identifier (e.g., NF_IP_INPUT ), the hook execution sequence is determined by priority. The hook list enumerator breaks at the position of an existing hook with a priority number elem->priority higher than the new hook’s priority number reg->priority : int nf_register_hook ( struct nf_hook_ops * reg) { struct nf_hook_ops * elem; int err; err = mutex_lock_interruptible( & nf_hook_mutex); if (err < 0 ) return err; list_for_each_entry(elem, & nf_hooks[reg -> pf][reg -> hooknum], list) { if (reg -> priority < elem -> priority) break ; } list_add_rcu( & reg -> list, elem -> list.prev); mutex_unlock( & nf_hook_mutex); ... return 0 ; } In that case, the new hook is inserted into the list, so that the higher-priority hook’s PREVIOUS link would point into the newly inserted hook. What happens if the new hook’s priority is also the same, such as NF_IP_PRI_FIRST – the maximum hook priority? In that case, the break condition will not be met, the list iterator list_for_each_entry will slide past the existing hook, and the new hook will be inserted after it as if the new hook’s priority was higher. By re-inserting its Netfilter hook in the hook handler of the nf_register_hook() function, the driver makes sure the Drovorub’s Netfilter hook will beat any other registered hook at the same hook number and with the same (maximum) priority. If the intercepted TCP packet does not belong to the hidden TCP connection, or if it’s destined to or originates from another process, hidden by Drovorub’s kernel-mode driver, the hook will return 5 ( NF_STOP ). Doing so will prevent other hooks from being called to process the same packet. Security Implications For Docker Containers Given that Drovorub toolset targets Linux and contains a port forwarding tool to route network traffic to other hosts on the compromised network, it would not be entirely unreasonable to assume that this toolset was detected in a client’s cloud infrastructure. According to Gartner’s prediction , in just two years, more than 75% of global organizations will be running cloud-native containerized applications in production, up from less than 30% today. Would the Drovorub toolset survive, if the client’s cloud infrastructure was running containerized applications? Would that facilitate the attack or would it disrupt it? Would it make the breach stealthier? To answer these questions, we have tested a different malicious toolset, CloudSnooper, reported earlier this year by Sophos. Just like Drovorub, CloudSnooper’s kernel-mode driver also relies on a Netfilter hook ( NF_INET_LOCAL_IN and NF_INET_LOCAL_OUT ) to extract C2 traffic from the intercepted TCP packets. As seen in the FBI/NSA report, the Volatility framework was used to carve the Drovorub kernel module out of the host, running CentOS. In our little lab experiment, let’s also use CentOS host. To build a new Docker container image, let’s construct the following Dockerfile: FROM scratch ADD centos-7.4.1708-docker.tar.xz / ADD rootkit.ko / CMD [“/bin/bash”] The new image, built from scratch, will have the CentOS 7.4 installed. The kernel-mode rootkit will be added to its root directory. Let’s build an image from our Dockerfile, and call it ‘test’: [root@localhost 1]# docker build . -t test Sending build context to Docker daemon 43.6MB Step 1/4 : FROM scratch —> Step 2/4 : ADD centos-7.4.1708-docker.tar.xz / —> 0c3c322f2e28 Step 3/4 : ADD rootkit.ko / —> 5aaa26212769 Step 4/4 : CMD [“/bin/bash”] —> Running in 8e34940342a2 Removing intermediate container 8e34940342a2 —> 575e3875cdab Successfully built 575e3875cdab Successfully tagged test:latest Next, let’s execute our image interactively (with pseudo-TTY and STDIN ): docker run -it test The executed image will be waiting for our commands: [root@8921e4c7d45e /]# Next, let’s try to load the malicious kernel module: [root@8921e4c7d45e /]# insmod rootkit.ko The output of this command is: insmod: ERROR: could not insert module rootkit.ko: Operation not permitted The reason why it failed is that by default, Docker containers are ‘unprivileged’. Loading a kernel module from a docker container requires a special privilege that allows it doing so. Let’s repeat our experiment. This time, let’s execute our image either in a fully privileged mode or by enabling only one capability – a capability to load and unload kernel modules ( SYS_MODULE ). docker run -it –privileged test or docker run -it –cap-add SYS_MODULE test Let’s load our driver again: [root@547451b8bf87 /]# insmod rootkit.ko This time, the command is executed silently. Running lsmod command allows us to enlist the driver and to prove it was loaded just fine. A little magic here is to quit the docker container and then delete its image: docker rmi -f test Next, let’s execute lsmod again, only this time on the host. The output produced by lsmod will confirm the rootkit module is loaded on the host even after the container image is fully unloaded from memory and deleted! Let’s see what ports are open on the host: [root@localhost 1]# netstat -tulpn Active Internet connections (only servers) Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State PID/Program name tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:22 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 1044/sshd With the SSH server running on port 22 , let’s send a C2 ‘ping’ command to the rootkit over port 22 : [root@localhost 1]# python client.py 127.0.0.1 22 8080 rrootkit-negotiation: hello The ‘hello’ response from the rootkit proves it’s fully operational. The Netfilter hook detects a command concealed in a TCP packet transferred over port 22 , even though the host runs SSH server on port 22 . How was it possible that a rootkit loaded from a docker container ended up loaded on the host? The answer is simple: a docker container is not a virtual machine. Despite the namespace and ‘control groups’ isolation, it still relies on the same kernel as the host. Therefore, a kernel-mode rootkit loaded from inside a Docker container instantly compromises the host, thus allowing the attackers to compromise other containers that reside on the same host. It is true that by default, a Docker container is ‘unprivileged’ and hence, may not load kernel-mode drivers. However, if a host is compromised, or if a trojanized container image detects the presence of the SYS_MODULE capability (as required by many legitimate Docker containers), loading a kernel-mode rootkit on a host from inside a container becomes a trivial task. Detecting the SYS_MODULE capability ( cap_sys_module ) from inside the container: [root@80402f9c2e4c /]# capsh –print Current: = cap_chown, … cap_sys_module, … Conclusion This post is drawing a parallel between the recently reported Drovorub rootkit and CloudSnooper, a rootkit reported earlier this year. Allegedly built by different teams, both of these Linux rootkits have one mechanism in common: a Netfilter hook ( NF_INET_LOCAL_IN and NF_INET_LOCAL_OUT ) and a toolset that enables tunneling of the traffic to other hosts within the same compromised cloud infrastructure. We are still hunting for the hashes and samples of Drovorub. Unfortunately, the YARA rules published by FBI/NSA cause False Positives. For example, the “Rule to detect Drovorub-server, Drovorub-agent, and Drovorub-client binaries based on unique strings and strings indicating statically linked libraries” enlists the following strings: “Poco” “Json” “OpenSSL” “clientid” “—–BEGIN” “—–END” “tunnel” The string “Poco” comes from the POCO C++ Libraries that are used for over 15 years. It is w-a-a-a-a-y too generic, even in combination with other generic strings. As a result, all these strings, along with the ELF header and a file size between 1MB and 10MB, produce a false hit on legitimate ARM libraries, such as a library used for GPS navigation on Android devices: f058ebb581f22882290b27725df94bb302b89504 56c36bfd4bbb1e3084e8e87657f02dbc4ba87755 Nevertheless, based on the information available today, our interest is naturally drawn to the security implications of these Linux rootkits for the Docker containers. Regardless of what security mechanisms may have been compromised, Docker containers contribute an additional attack surface, another opportunity for the attackers to compromise the hosts and other containers within the same organization. The scenario outlined in this post is purely hypothetical. There is no evidence that supports that Drovorub may have affected any containers. However, an increase in volume and sophistication of attacks against Linux-based cloud-native production environments, coupled with the increased proliferation of containers, suggests that such a scenario may, in fact, be plausible. 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

Application outages caused by human error can be a nightmare for businesses, leading to financial losses, customer dissatisfaction, and... Cyber Attacks & Incident Response Resolving human error in application outages: strategies for success Malynnda Littky-Porath 2 min read Malynnda Littky-Porath 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 3/18/24 Published Application outages caused by human error can be a nightmare for businesses, leading to financial losses, customer dissatisfaction, and reputational damage. While human error is inevitable, organizations can implement effective strategies to minimize its impact and resolve outages promptly. In this blog post, we will explore proven solutions for addressing human error in application outages, empowering businesses to enhance their operational resilience and deliver uninterrupted services to their customers. Organizations must emphasize training and education One of the most crucial steps in resolving human error in application outages is investing in comprehensive training and education for IT staff. By ensuring that employees have the necessary skills, knowledge, and understanding of the application environment, organizations can reduce the likelihood of errors occurring. Training should cover proper configuration management, system monitoring, troubleshooting techniques, and incident response protocols. Additionally, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement is essential. Encourage employees to stay up to date with the latest technologies, best practices, and industry trends through workshops, conferences, and online courses. Regular knowledge sharing sessions and cross-team collaborations can also help mitigate human errors by fostering a culture of accountability and knowledge transfer. It’s time to implement robust change management processes Implementing rigorous change management processes is vital for preventing human errors that lead to application outages. Establishing a standardized change management framework ensures that all modifications to the application environment go through a well-defined process, reducing the risk of inadvertent errors. The change management process should include proper documentation of proposed changes, a thorough impact analysis, and rigorous testing in non-production environments before deploying changes to the production environment. Additionally, maintaining a change log and conducting post-implementation reviews can provide valuable insights for identifying and rectifying any potential errors. Why automate and orchestrate operational tasks Human errors often occur due to repetitive, mundane tasks that are prone to oversight or mistakes. Automating and orchestrating operational tasks can significantly reduce human error in application outages. Organizations should leverage automation tools to streamline routine tasks such as provisioning, configuration management, and deployment processes. By removing the manual element, the risk of human error decreases, and the consistency and accuracy of these tasks improve. Furthermore, implementing orchestration tools allows for the coordination and synchronization of complex workflows involving multiple teams and systems. This reduces the likelihood of miscommunication and enhances collaboration, minimizing errors caused by lack of coordination. Establish effective monitoring and alerting mechanisms Proactive monitoring and timely alerts are crucial for identifying potential issues and resolving them before they escalate into outages. Implementing robust monitoring systems that capture key performance indicators, system metrics, and application logs enables IT teams to quickly identify anomalies and take corrective action. Additionally, setting up alerts and notifications for critical events ensures that the appropriate personnel are notified promptly, allowing for rapid response and resolution. Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities can enhance monitoring by detecting patterns and anomalies that human operators might miss. Human errors will always be a factor in application outages, but by implementing effective strategies, organizations can minimize their impact and resolve incidents promptly. Investing in comprehensive training, robust change management processes, automation and orchestration, and proactive monitoring can significantly reduce the likelihood of human error-related outages. By prioritizing these solutions and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, businesses can enhance their operational resilience, protect their reputation, and deliver uninterrupted services to 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