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Is firewall security the only security you need on a business network?
Are firewalls the only security you need on a business network? I have a really small office (5 networked computers and a server), and we have firewalls in place. Do you recommend any other security tools? I've heard about IDS systems, do you think my company would need one of those? Thanks.
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4 Answers
Firewalls themselves vary in quality. I've always found hardware firewalls (dedicated servers/devices outside of your machines that actually do your day-to-day work for you) to work better than software firewalls (installed locally to your PCs). A firewall can even be an older PC tasked for just the purpose of monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic and can be a great way to re-cycle older hardware. They can also exist as part of the device you use to connect to the internet (router/modem/etc.).
Malware detection is a must these days, and this can be over and above whatever anti-virus you run.
Managed malware scanning is pretty useful. A service that can scan your web access and filter your incoming/outgoing email to ensure clean services will pay for itself in a very short time.
I'd definitely go after combined solution - firewall with IPS, so you don't have to manage 2 systems. For an office with 5 people (I suppose you don't want to pay dedicated sysadmin), I'd choose IPS (Intrusion Prevention System), rather than IDS (Intrusion Detection System).
In these days, many people work on laptops and they connect to the internet from various places, where they might get a malware. And they come to the office, without knowing their computers were infected. In this case, IPS can not only detect the problem (like IDS), but also block the communication from compromised computer. So if someone has a botnet, the computer won't send data to the 'master'.
I hope it helps,
Pavel Suk, Kerio
Unless you are are hosting servers that need to be accessed from the Internet, your firewall should be blocking ALL inbound traffic anyway. I don't see adding IDS capability as a necessary investment especially for an environment that small. Many small business/home office firewalls today also have integrated IDS functionality so you can go that route also. I would look at that when time to upgrade/replace. Ensure that all your systems have updated anti-virus software.
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