To succeed as a Small and Midsize Business (SMB) owner, you’re often focusing on your growth and how much money you’ve got in the bank. Unfortunately, attackers know this, and they commonly go after SMBs who are often vulnerable targets due to their limited resources and weak security.
Enter: Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs).
First, before we explain what Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) are, let’s briefly describe what regular firewalls are.
Regular firewalls are like standard security gates. Firewalls decide whether to allow or block traffic on a network based on factors like where the traffic is coming from, and where it’s going.
But Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) take the security several steps further.
If regular firewalls are like standard security gates, Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) are like advanced security gates with guards and special glasses that can see so much more. Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) can understand what kind of data is passing through (for example, text, images, videos, and so on), and they can even detect suspicious patterns and movements.
Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) can also spot known types of security threats, like viruses and malware, and stop them from getting into your network.
Stated differently: Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) are advanced security devices designed to provide more robust protection for computer networks compared to traditional firewalls. They go beyond simple packet filtering (which looks at the source and destination of data packets) and incorporate additional capabilities to enhance security.
NGFWs are like highly intelligent security guards for computer networks. They can understand not only where data is coming from and going to, but also what type of data it is, who’s sending it, and whether it seems safe. This advanced level of awareness and control helps protect networks from a wide range of cyber threats.
This means that: choosing the right NGFW not only saves your business time and money in the short- and long-term, but it can also make the overall management of your security environment easier and more cost-effective.
So, in this guide, you’ll find out the top Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) that you need to protect and secure your business, whether you run a small business, a startup, or a midsize Business.
1. Cisco Next-Generation Firewall for Small Businesses: The Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) 1000 Series
2. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
Next-generation firewall that combines malware protection, web, and email filtering, intrusion prevention, spam protection, layer seven application profiling, network access control, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities into one platform, and are centrally managed across multiple network locations.
3. SonicWall TZ Series Next-Generation Firewall
4. Sophos XGS Series Next-Gen Firewall Appliances
5. FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs)
6. CheckPoint Quantum Spark 1500 Pro Next Generation Firewalls
7. Palo Alto Networks PA-400 Series and PA-1400 Series Next Generation Firewalls
Small and medium-sized businesses are popular targets for hackers, but your business can be unique. By investing in the right Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) solution, you can stay ahead of cybersecurity threats and significantly reduce security risks to your business.
That way, you can continue to modernize and transform your business and set it up for new stages of growth, even with limited budget and resources.