Managed Firewalls For Business

A firewall is the first line of defence in a networks infrastructure. Without secure business network security, a hacker or intruder could access confidential or sensitive information.

The world of cyber nasties is constantly evolving and it can be difficult to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to business protection. Many people assume they can install a firewall they have bought in a local computer shop, but these often aren’t powerful enough, the protective features are weak, or they do not get installed correctly to give any level of security. It definitely takes more than plugging in a device and calling the job done.

Being protected against inbound intrusion via a firewall is an excellent first step, however, there are other places that a managed firewall can help. Internet ghouls can pop up anywhere; virus downloads whilst surfing seemingly innocent pages and backdoor downloads happening without an employee knowing. A strong firewall can scan anything that is being downloaded, adding another layer of protection alongside anti-virus software.

Having the peace of mind that a team of experts is monitoring your security systems is a real benefit of opting for a managed firewall service. A managed firewall is continually examined to check it is online, up to date and that any alerts are acted on effectively. This high level of service is vital to ensure network attacks are avoided due to unnecessary downtime or unseen issues.

The team monitoring firewalls remotely are all security professionals which allows businesses to sleep soundly when out of the office. Firewall administrators are trained and certified by security vendors and are experienced in configuring and managing firewalls, keeping them up to date and troubleshooting to create solutions.

This level of protection is ideal, but a basic level of understanding for all staff should be imparted for the benefit of business. Some companies do not consider that data loss and breaches occur inside their own networks via the emailing of sensitive data or by using file sharing software that leaves computers and the local network open to harmful threats.  A managed firewall, in this scenario, can block the activity, preventing employees from visiting unsafe web pages, and log their activity which is helpful to distinguish an unproductive employee, or one who is causing damage to the business.

Setting up a firewall and harnessing the skills of experts is just part of the process. Just like software on computers, it is imperative that a firewall is kept updated. Viruses and deceiving websites change daily and, furthermore, it is worth keeping in mind that disgruntled employees can do damage out of frustration. By having a managed firewall, updates are maintained by professionals, ensuring a company’s data and network has a much better change of staying protected rather than opting to plug in a device and walk away.

Luminet’s Managed Firewall is a robust, scalable and fully managed service for small to enterprise customers and is installed in 10 working days. This, ‘firewall-as-a-service’ lowers the total cost of ownership with no hardware purchase or maintenance costs, as well as benefitting from economies of scale and risk reduction, and is a part of our end to end Private Cloud, Data Centres and Networks infrastructure.

This service combines with our Network in the Sky connectivity portfolio.

Find out more about the Luminet’s Managed Firewall service and our Network in the Sky