To understand the importance of a firewall audit, it’s necessary to first understand how a firewall works. Firewalls are capable of using signature-pattern recognition to analyse and compare packets against an expansive database of known threats, malicious code or attack vectors, restricting access for traffic that matches any of these dangers.
But this presents certain issues that may be exploited. For one, firewalls must be constantly updated to take into account rapidly evolving threats and malicious payloads. At the same time, improperly-configured rules can introduce weakness in firewalls that may be exploited to gain unauthorised access. In both cases, the inability of the firewall to identify, isolate and restrict malicious packets may place the entire network in significant danger.
At the same time, managing firewalls can be extremely difficult, particularly within complex systems. Lack of visibility and incomplete documentation stands in the way of effective firewall management, potentially exposing sensitive systems and data to risk.
The firewall audit as a concept is built on the idea that security is more than just tools; it’s an ongoing process in which existing defences are constantly reviewed, audited and improved upon to provide the best-possible network and data protection. Regularly and consistently performed, firewall audits are a vital component in ensuring firewall viability, and play a key role in improving network security, companywide.