Why businesses still need network firewall security

When working in an office was the only option most of us had, making the case for a network firewall was an easy sale.

The firewall analogy

The office, along with all its digital assets, was a company's castle. And the network firewall was the moat meant to keep out the invaders.

These days, working in the office is no longer the only option employees have. Remote and hybrid work environments mean businesses now have more fronts to keep up with to cover the cybersecurity essentials.

Even if employees work exclusively on site, innovations like the cloud mean companies are communicating with more external services than they did 20 years ago.

Perhaps the castle analogy no longer works. Maybe it would help to think of your office as your company's homebase. Business can happen anywhere. But you still want to protect the headquarters, the place your employees call home. Even if they visit only once every blue moon.

A network firewall no longer covers as much attack surface as it once did. But network firewalls still have a place in modern security.

Network firewalls still serve a purpose

The threats network firewalls protected against in decades past still exist. Those threats still need to be addressed and protected against.

Also, network firewalls still include crucial features such as:

• Intrusion Detection System (IDS).

• Intrusion Protection System (IPS).

• Port filtering.

So the network firewall still has a place in the 21st century.

The unfortunate truth is that businesses now have more attack surfaces to worry about. Businesses should not be thinking about other security solutions in place of network firewalls—but in addition to network firewalls.