According to research conducted by Hiscox, 7 out of 10 small businesses have not taken basic steps to safeguard themselves from cybercrime. Taking essential cybersecurity measures, like establishing a network firewall, is incredibly essential for businesses small and large. Firewalls stop malicious actors and hackers from getting access to your company’s sensitive data and protect your organization from cyber threats, like malware and virus.
What is a Network Firewall Security?
A firewall is a software or hardware network security system designed to protect your network from malicious, unwanted approaches made by hackers. A firewall safeguards your network from external threats and provides end-to-end security by carefully analyzing information getting in and out of your network.
Here are 9 reasons why every business should have a network firewall.
1. Safeguards Your Company Against Hackers
A network firewall protects company data by sending timely alerts whenever there is a breach or an attempt to breach made in your network. There is malicious software that is capable of getting attached to the network’s incoming traffic. Firewall networks are capable of blocking them. Nowadays, cybercriminals get access to a business’s network and system through social engineering.
Cyber hackers and criminals use several tactics and tricks to trap employees that can provide hackers with the company’s sensitive information. Employees must be trained about being aware of cyber hacks and the tricks they use. It is important for the company to invest in both – educating employees and a good firewall.
2. Protects Your Company Data In the Cloud
With the increasing quantity of data being created and shared internally in organizations, it is absolutely necessary for businesses to resort to cloud data services. So many businesses are continuously opting to host their data in the cloud instead of their servers.
Though it is a great move financially, it does have a risk and a downside – you are not in control of your data. You have no option but to trust the cloud data service provider you choose for data storage. Having a network firewall and a firewall policy in place minimizes that risk considerably. Firewalls check and re-check every bit of data to make sure no type of malicious code gets into the system.
3. Allows You To Block Access to Certain Websites
While the internet has made the world a global village, it is also home to many unsafe websites. A firewall allows you to block unsafe and suspicious websites that you want to restrict your employees from visiting. This is very useful if you want to restrict your employees from visiting inappropriate sites or those suspicious sites that might consist of malicious downloads while working in your organisation.
For instance, you can choose to block gambling sites, pornographic websites, and social media websites. With a network firewall, you, as an employer, stay in control of what your employees can access when they use the organisation’s computers at work. This is great from the perspective of increasing productivity as well.
4. Helps Secure Network When Being Accessed Remotely
With the novel coronavirus taking over the world and lockdowns being declared in many countries, remote working is now being happily accepted as a part of work culture. So many organizations worldwide had no other option but to rely on remote working. Though it was a partially great thing for both employees and employers, protecting our network when employees are working outside of your internet service provider is much more tricky.
Having a firewall established secures the connection between your remote employees and your company’s server. Moreover, it also blocks unauthorized access and restricts them from accessing the data being shared.
5. Helps In Limiting Bandwidth Usage
Bandwidth usage which is not business-related is another problem businesses have to deal with. When there are fewer people using the internet for lesser things, internet speed is much faster. If fewer people are using it, the data speed that employees can enjoy will be much higher and they will be able to get their work done faster. This proves to be especially true when employees start exploiting the company’s internet for consuming content which is not related to work, like listening to music and watching videos.
A firewall enables you to limit the internet bandwidth amount that is being used for non-work-related things. The firewall does not turn off the internet entirely but lets you limit how much bandwidth can be used for watching videos or looking at pictures, amongst other things. This is how firewalls help in saving bandwidth and reserving faster speeds for only work-related activities solely.
6. It Can Be Used For Providing VPN Services
In the normal internet we use, the data being shared and transmitted across any public network is not secure and may carry malicious software. Network firewalls provide VPN services that don’t just conceal data and information shared between two parties but also act as a point of entry which connects your company’s WAN (Wide Area Network) and LAN (Local Area Network).
VPN (Virtual Private Network) uses coding technology or encryption for the protection of the communication and data shared amongst employees of the organization. A company’s firewall settings can be configured in a way that only specific computers can access the internet. A tunnel can also be used to connect these computers which enables them to communicate over the internet securely.
7. Makes Using New Apps a Safer Experience
One of the main functions of a firewall is to monitor your network tirelessly and block any traffic that has the potential of being a threat to an organization. This function makes integrating new software and applications a much safer experience. Without the presence of a network firewall, new applications downloaded may enter a connection that might compromise your business data and network.
On the other hand, an efficient firewall managed by a network security services provider identifies and flags malicious activity before it happens and causes any harm. When you get a good firewall installed in your organization, you do not have to worry about these things.
8. Helps in Meeting Compliance
Cybersecurity regulations involve complicated legal language. Additionally, compliance regulations also keep updating and upgrading frequently. However, no matter how complicated it is, it is important for every organization to comply with regulations like the PCI security standards and HIPAA Security Rule. A good, updated network firewall doesn’t just protect your network, it also helps your company comply with all the necessary cybersecurity regulations and security standards.
9. Protects Your Company’s Network, Data, & Employees from Malicious Code
Computers run on code, and this code enables people, businesses, and networks around the world to communicate. As fascinating as code is, it also brings some major issues that need to deal with. It brings a lot of unnecessary junk into your computer and networks, uses unnecessary space, and wastes resources.
Additionally, hackers and cybercriminals use code to break into your network and then use more codes to hide spam, viruses, and worms. These malicious codes have the potential of harming your organization by giving hackers access to your valuable data.
With a firewall in place, you rest assured that groundbreaking software is looking after your network 24/7. It also checks each and every single code that comes in and goes out. Moreover, it also reports any attempts that are made to intrude on your server or network incorrectly or illegally.
Firewalls ruthlessly block anything that is out of the ordinary and this protects your network’s systems and the valuable data that resides in it. A firewall is also capable of learning and remembering malicious applications that breached or attempted to breach your network, blocking them, and further protecting your network.
With PruTech by your side, you can rest assured that your business is in safe hands. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you protect your business from cyber threats.
Want to install a network security firewall in your organization? Have a look at our cyber security consulting services here
