It’s a scary world out there. As if new competitors, technologies and changing markets weren’t enough to keep you awake at night, there are all those headlines that seem to hit every couple of weeks – Wannacry virus spread worldwide… Data breach exposes the customer information of tens of thousands… Chapter 11 filing cites damage from last year’s hacking attack…
Some 70 percent of cyberattacks target small businesses, according to the National Cyber Security Alliance. Why? It’s pretty simple. Smaller enterprises aren’t likely to have dedicated internal IT departments and sophisticated systems that can keep pace with the furiously evolving arsenal of malicious malware – including viruses, spyware, worms and service attacks – that’s arrayed against them. A Dark Net universe of global attackers sees soft targets and easy paydays. Business owners see potential disaster.
Fortunately, there are potent reinforcements ready to man the barricades. SMBs increasingly turn to managed security services such as managed firewall solutions to gain the same level of protection that the largest enterprises deploy. In fact, the SMB segment’s adoption of managed security services is expected to grow at the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of all business segments through 2021, according to a recent MarketsandMarkets report.
Firewall solutions guard the critical information that flows within organizations from external and internal threats. Deployed at network borders, they act as choke points that prohibit potentially vulnerable traffic from entering or leaving networks and can instantly stop a database attack. That’s potent protection for SMBs. However, firewall management is an ongoing process that requires IT security resources, expertise and diligent maintenance. A poorly-implemented or improperly-configured firewall can leave a company just as vulnerable as not having one at all.
At TPx, we’ve eliminated the challenges SMBs face in firewall implementation and maintenance with ITx for Firewalls – a powerful turnkey managed security service that provides an easily deployable and cost-effective firewall solution. This innovative service frees business owners, managers and even IT specialists from the worries of network security planning and firewall maintenance. With flexible hardware options and remote 24×7 device monitoring and management from our state-of-the-art Security Operations Center (SOC) in St. Louis, security and threat management becomes a lot less threatening.
With ITx for Firewalls, TPx customers can focus on building and running their businesses while our security team, led by former military intelligence and Department of Defense officials, handles all firmware updates and administrative configuration changes. And with a TPx-managed firewall, our customers also get the peace-of-mind of layered Unified Threat Management (UTM) services as well— all run from our cutting-edge SOC.
Traditional firewalls and routers often include a basic level of protection via packet inspection. However, packet inspection alone does not thwart malicious intent and threats. TPx believes that all of our managed firewall customers deserve an affordable security solution that offers levels of UTM in a single solution, guarding against threats by performing intrusion protections such as content filtering, application control and anti-virus – duties traditionally handled by multiple systems. Layered on top is a dedicated security team to manage the necessary firmware upgrades that keep the business’s protection up to date with the latest security policies. A managed firewall solution that combines threat protection with expert monitoring and management is an uncommonly powerful and economic solution for SMBs.
The technology landscape is changing, and so are the potential threats against businesses of all sizes. SMBs are particularly vulnerable as they face more attacks but have fewer resources available to protect their networks, operations and data. More than ever, they need innovative solutions that can protect their data and provide comprehensive security that’s both scalable and easy to manage. Managed firewalls – especially when backed by a comprehensive threat-management suite – can be a great equalizer for SMBs in a cyber-threat landscape that otherwise favors larger companies with significant IT and security resources.
It’s just common sense.
About the Author
Teri Lingley is a Sr. Product Manager for ITx Managed Services, specifically for TPx’s managed Software-Defined Wide Area Networking and security solutions. She has over 20 years of experience in managed network services and business continuity, ranging from enterprise sales to product management and development. Since the beginning of her career, her focus has been on bringing new technologies to market as managed solutions that enable business customers to keep focus on their business and not their networking. Teri is passionate about providing next-generation solutions that protect SMBs from threats, whether they be a natural disaster or the latest malware. Teri received her undergraduate degree and M.B.A. from Virginia Tech and resides in Dallas, TX.