10 Best Practices for Keeping Fortinet Firewalls Validated with P J Networks

Introduction

In a highly interconnected world, cybersecurity is of the essence. Attacks on sensitive data of businesses are common, the threats keep changing and so does their intensity towards all aspects of a business like integrity, confidentiality or availability. Firewalls are one of the primary weapons in any cybersecurity arsenal, and Fortinet firewalls are no slouches either; having held as firm rivals to other big guns because of its outstanding security performance. Nevertheless, some cyber security experts say that to keep these firewalls running at peak performance constant after support is required. P J Networks specializes in providing rental firewalls, servers and routers so you can expand your internet security with next generation technology at minimum costs. In this blog, we will show you the top 10 Best Practice Tips for Fortinet Firewall Configuration.

Top 10 Best Practices

1. Regular Firmware Updates

Keeping the heat on and upgrading firmware should be a normal Fortinet firewall behavior. Each update comes with necessary security fixes, speed improvements and new functionalities. Establish regular maintenance windows to look for potential updates and patches.

2. Enforce Better Password Policies

Attackers love weak passwords. Mandate firm password control policies; meaning requiring letters, numbers and special characters combination use strong passwords (along with forcing regular rotation of said passwords) to decrease potential for unauthorized access.

3. Regular Backup Configuration

Prevent firewall configuration loss by making frequent backups. Setup an automatic back ups to a secure location and run the restore test once in 3–4 months, so that it can prove its credibility.

4. Monitor and Log Traffic

Enforce detailed logging and monitoring of every possible network communication. Check logs periodically for signs of unusual activity that may indicate a breach or intrusion. Leverage FortiAnalyzer, or some other tool, to analyze and visualize the log data efficiently.

5. Segment Your Network

Network segmentation minimises the exposure of virtual assets, and limits security incidents to smaller portions. Advanced: Use VLANs with firewall policies to properly segment your network and limit the ability of threats to move laterally.

6. Enable Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IPS)

Enable and keep updating the IPS function of a Fortinet firewall. IPS: Detects and prevents highly targeted intrusions and exploits to protect your network from 0-day threats

7. Perform Routine Security Audits

Carry out security audits periodically to detect and fix the loopholes. The idea is to provide security by performing regular audits which includes penetration testing, vulnerability assessment and compliance checks etc in order secure your network from threats.

8. How to Set Up Secure VPNs and Remote Access?

Safe VPN configurations are further valuable in the current trend of telecommuting. Limit VPN access and excrypt all sessions. Monitor VPN policies and User access attempts routinely for any deviation

9. Educate Your Team

One of the most critical vulnerabilities in cybersecurity is still human error. Educate your team on good cybersecurity practices and current threat vectors, let them know what to look for. This ongoing use of training helps to promote a security culture.

10. Manage New Email Threats with Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

Take advantage of Fortinet’s ATP solutions to bolster your cybersecurity defenses. Malware analysis, sandboxing and real-time threat intelligence are a few of the powerful features that give your security infrastructure an added layer to keep emerging threats out.

Real-World Examples

Case Study 1: Security Enhancement Of Retail Business

P J Networks had a retail business that was receiving DDoS attacks. They fortified their network by renting Fortinet firewalls from us and following the above mentioned best practices. Furthermore, fewer vulnerabilities could be attributed to regular firmware updates and enforced strong password policies. They had segmented their network, and also switched on the IPS functionality which stopped these attacks in its tracks ensuring no damage to business continuity.

Case Study 2: Secure Remote Work For IT Firm

ProblemAn IT firm having difficulty in securing employees that were working from home across there wide range of enterprise customers. The org could rapidly deploy secure VPN configurations with our rented Fortinet firewalls. The remote access policies remained impenetrable as long they continued to conduct security audits and get their team wisely educated in order to protect themselves via legislation, encryption-based tools. This has led to a massive decrease in security incidents and remote work derailing.

P J Networks’ Expertise

Cashing InLoad-Balancing Confidential Cybersecurity segment of all Rental ThemesImplemented By P J Networks Antivirus Firewall DDOSMonitoring HelpdeskFull Ticket & SupportTracking Solution Soc-LiteWithOptions Anti-RansomwareProtection options implemented for RaaS UsersVISIBLE CORE BinaryGradeUNITS CoreResearch Per Email ADDRESS Visibility FrontCoreNetwork SecuritySCAN NORMALIZED Units OPTIONSIMPACT 2.ANGLENetworkingSecurityScanning FULL-RECOGNITIONSSLCYBERTEAMSUPERTOOLS Clips SOLUTION bietet BI-CURATED grpcsocCertificate CHECK-ACT! With our skill in Fortinet firewalls, we are not just repairing the hardware but setting up clients to be able … (read more) Our rental services are focused on providing a balance between cost and security features you can trust whether it’s servers, routers or firewalls.

Ii our talented team is available to help implement these best practices through firmware updates or advanced threat protection configurations. With P J Networks, businesses can ensure they are ahead in cybersecurity — all the while benefiting from bespoke organising and expert support.

Conclusion

The maintenance of Fortinet firewalls is crucial to protect your network. To keep your network and data secure, learn about the top 10 best practices for achieving unbeatable performance with utmost security — which are to update firmware periodically, implement robust access control (username and password), backup configurations frequently, monitor traffic closely, segment networks securely using internal firewalling/SDN architecture/extensive vlans & tunnels etc., enable IPS on all externally facing devices including firewalls/routers/gateways so they can detect inbound attacks; regularly audit device(s) health such as routers/interfaces switches/servers/etc.; Secure Remote Access by setting strong passwords(requires 2FA but not always implemented); Educating staff members how hackers work through social engineering or programming/script skills. The rental firewall, server and router that your company will need to get or keep its network infrastructure secure is something P J Networks has dedicated our efforts in providing.

Whether you are a small business or an enterprise, we have the know-how to navigate cybersecurity on your behalf. We look forward to working alongside all of you in the intelligence community as we continue developing defenses against a changing threat landscape.