Every Organization Should Ensure These Steps to Fortify Their Firewall

Firewall security is vital to prevent business networks from cyber attacks. Firewalls, servers, and routers are rented, based on which you have to secure them to avoid unauthorized access, data loss, and breaches.

Most organizations believe that simply plugging in a firewall will mitigate all risks, but if not hardened properly, firewalls can quickly become liabilities. These are advanced tips to help you fortify and harden your firewall against new cyberattacks.

1. Restricting Admin Access

Unrestricted access to firewall settings can be a security risk. Attacks on admin panels enable hackers to take control of configurations and push down other security protocols.

How to Restrict Admin Access:

• Restrict access by IP address – Only a short list of pre-approved IPs should have admin access.
• Use a dedicated admin network – Administrators should access firewalls via a separate secure network.
• Filter public access – Do not publish the management interfaces of a firewall to the internet. Use VPNs instead.

Limiting admin access greatly reduces the risks of configuration tampering or system hacking attempts.

2. Implementing Least Privilege

Some users on the network do not require complete access to firewall settings. Security is maximized by granting access only to the minimal required — the principle of least privilege.

Implementing Least Privilege: Steps to Follow:

• Limit admin rights – Keep Administrator rights on the firewall only to users who require it.
• Establish role-based permissions — Assign distinct access roles for IT staff according to their functions.
• Ongoing permissions review – Audit to prune unneeded administrative rights.

The fewer people who have high-level access, the more secure your firewall will be. When security controls are not adequately restricted, unauthorized changes and accidental misconfigurations become among the most considerable vulnerabilities businesses face.

3. Secure Firmware Updates

Having outdated firmware is one of the biggest entry points for hackers. Since firewall firmware is periodically updated to fix vulnerabilities and add reinstall more advanced features, keeping it updated is a critical security-related task.

Secure Update Firmware Best Practices

• Force updates to work automatically – Where possible, keep the firewalls so that they get the patches regularly.
• Fetch updates only from manufacturer’s websites — Ensure that updates to firmware come from the manufacturer and not from malicious sites.
• Use a safe environment for patch testing – It is better to test the patches on a controlled environment rather than to apply them to production firewalls to avoid compatibility issues.

Schedule updates at off-peak times, so disruption of critical business operations is minimal.

Companies that do not take care of firmware updates put themselves at risk of newer threats that can target and exploit outdated security protocols. With regular updates, you are assured to have the latest security measures in your firewall.

4. Implementing Robust Authentication

Many cyber attackers simply use weak passwords and default credentials to gain access. Strong authentication is enforced to ensure firewall management is executed only by authorized users.

The Promising Future of Password-less Authentication:

• Use complex passwords – Enforce long passwords comprised of upper and lower case-alphas, numbers, and special characters.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) – (You can require a second mobile time code one-time code.)
• Disable unused admin accounts – Clean up admin accounts that are no longer needed or in use to minimize attack surfaces.
• Rotate credentials periodically — Update admin passwords once every few months; minimizes risk.

Weak authentication is one of the most common reasons for firewall cracking. Proper authentication controls remain the first line of defense against hackers trying to gain access to firewall configurations.

5. Continuous Threat Monitoring

Firewall security is never a set-it-and-forget-it effort. Firewalls must always be monitored for suspicious activities as cyber threats evolve constantly.

Steps to Implement Continuous Threat Monitoring:

• Activate real-time alerts – Set up your firewall to alert you of any unusual network traffic or unauthorized access attempts.
• Check log files – Conduct routine reviews of the firewall logs.
• Use IDS – If your firewall has IDS capabilities, they can monitor all traffic and block suspicious activity.
• Hire or rent managed firewall services – If you don’t have an in-house security team, rent a firewall that includes security monitoring services.

Real-time monitoring, often overlooked by many businesses, leads to delayed detection of breaches. 24/7 firewall threat monitoring helps to ensure that cyber threats do not go unnoticed.

Conclusion

This is not a should—it is a must. Cyber threats change with time and misconfigured or outdated firewalls present a significant threat to business networks. These advanced techniques such as blocking admin access, least privilege implementation, firmware updates, strong authentication, and continuous threat monitoring can significantly fortify the security offered by firewalls.

Getting those firewalls, servers, and routers on rent, if your business requires a high-performance, hardened firewall but doesn’t want to take the headache of hardware costs and maintenance, is a wise solution. Managed security equipment allows organizations to reap the rewards of expert-level protection without the burden of adding IT departments to monitor them.

Cybersecurity is not a stationary process that you can achieve using standard equipment.