The advent of cloud computing gave rise to hyper connectivity and constant availability. Data could not only be stored on the cloud but could be processed and dispensed whenever needed, wherever needed. Giants like Google and Microsoft came up with solutions like Google Drive and OneDrive for storage. Amazon introduced AWS whereby businesses could host and provide their services from the cloud. These and some more reasons provided the impetus for a majority of the businesses to shift their applications to the cloud. This deepened the need for stricter cloud security and consequently, for a Cloud Firewall.
In this blog, we will go over some reasons businesses shift to the cloud, some considerations for cloud security, and the basics of a cloud firewall.
3 Reasons Why Businesses Shift to The Cloud
Cloud computing has a host of benefits which make it appealing to companies.
Flexibility
Cloud-based services are ideal for emerging or dynamic businesses with changing needs. Because cloud bandwidths are allocated on a need basis, they can be increased or decreased on the fly. Businesses can therefore adjust their cloud server storage as per their requirements. This has the additional cost benefits too.
Recovery
We have been in the IT sector for over 20 years and we’re just as irritated as you by emails like, “Our servers are experiencing technical difficulties.” Moreover, even your servers recover, there is a chance you will face data loss. When you’re hosting your applications on the cloud, your service provider maintains redundant cloud servers as a fail-safe. You can configure your cloud to mirror all data, so if one server fails, you’re good to go with a plan B. In the absence of cloud servers, this mechanism is costly for physical servers in terms of both money and storage space.
Collaboration & Productivity
Connecting to your work has never been easier. When your team can access, view, and edit critical data from remote locations, at the instant they need it, it boosts their productivity. They’re not tethered to the office space anymore. Moreover, email too can be hosted on the cloud. Using cloud-based email, employees can communicate better and faster.
Why is Cloud Security important?
Cloud security is the protection of cloud data from threats like theft, corruption, or leakage. Cloud security is essential especially because you’re hosting your business application on a third party’s cloud platform. With all the benefits of cloud computing we just saw, there is a drawback: loss of total control. If there’s a cyber-attack on the cloud service provider, your and other applications are at risk. That’s why protecting your cloud data becomes critical.
Correctly configuring your cloud security protocols with your cloud service provider is crucial. Maximum cloud security can be achieved via manual monitoring and enforcing strict rules.
But the safest and easiest way to achieve the best cloud security is to use a Cloud Firewall.
What is a Cloud Firewall?
Cloud Firewalls are special firewalls that specifically protect your cloud data and resources. They from a solid layer of protection around your cloud platform and are the first line of defense in case of an attack.
Like regular firewalls, cloud firewalls also work on filtering rules. A firewall monitors all access and edit requests to cloud data. If a request doesn’t follow a filtering rule, it is marked as malicious and is immediately blocked.
Firewalls extensively use threat intelligence – and most modern ones even use advanced AI – they can easily ward off emerging threats and newer attack vectors almost by themselves.
Reading Resources: Why A Web Application Firewall Is A Must?
NGFW
A NGFW or Next-Gen Firewall is an advanced firewall that has capabilities beyond the traditional firewall. NGFWs are customizable in that the procurer can specify their unique scenario and the NGFW can be tailored to those requirements.
NGFWs are deployed on the cloud as FWaaS (Firewall as a Service). Unlike traditional firewalls, they are not hosted on the business’s premises; FWaaS are installed on a virtual server on the cloud and can only be accessed via the cloud. But they aren’t physical devices that act on the boundary between public and private network (network perimeter). In terms of cloud computing, this boundary is between the cloud platform and the rest of the internet. And because requests are always made through the internet, the network perimeter is not always starkly visible.
So, what does a NGFW do that a traditional cloud firewall cannot?
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
A capability that identifies and blocks cyber-attack attempts.
Deep Packet Inspection
Every cloud resource request is made as individual packets. NGFWs scans each request packet for its header and payloads. It verifies a security mechanism called as ‘checksum’ and if it finds checksum mismatch, it can flag the request as a potential threat.
Application Control
Along with scanning and blocking individual request packets, an NGFW can also allow/disallow entire applications from making cloud requests.
Want to procure a cloud firewall?
If you are looking to protect your cloud data, a cloud firewall is a must. Logix offers cloud firewall and NGFW services. Contact us with your requirements and we will get back to you with a solution perfect for your needs.