Debunking Common Myths About Managed Firewall Services

Cybercrime comes to a huge figure of $7 trillion across the global economy. On average, a company faces data breaches costing around $4.35 million. The survey seems to spell it out that, with the enhanced intensity of cyber threats, businesses are not in a position to take their eyes off strong security measures.

Firewalls are the frontline soldiers in the war of cyber attackers, which keep your network guarded from unwanted access to the carrying out of activities by evil. Still, managing it all is quite an in-house daunting task that may call for specialized resources that most organizations don't have.

Here is the place where managed firewall services come in with a detailed and economical solution to the menace. Several myths and misconceptions about their effectiveness often keep them at bay. In this blog post, therefore, we take a look at some of the most common myths around managed firewall services to give you the power to make decisions that ensure protection for digital assets within your organization.

Myth #1: Managed Firewall Services Are Too Expensive 

The most popular myth associated with managed firewall services is that they are costly and not affordable at all, especially for small and medium enterprises. Some people think that maintaining an in-house team to manage the firewall can prove to be even costlier compared to the managed services offered by third-party vendors. On the other hand, the use of a specialized provider ensures that the business is not exposed to the exorbitantly high costs that come with hiring, training, and keeping an in-house cybersecurity team but rather outsource the firewall management to a specialized provider. Most of all managed firewall services always come with flexible billing plans that allow an organization to take up the one that best suits its budget and scale up as required. The returns on investment (ROI) for cost-saving achieved with managed services could be relatively high for a very long time. 

Myth #2: Managed Services Compromise Control and Visibility 

Another misbelief is that with the managed service provider, the organization will cede all its control and visibility over its security infrastructure, which is not the case. The most reputable managed firewall service providers assure you of reporting and monitoring capabilities to ensure you are abreast of the situation and on top of your security posture at all times. All the services of these providers are staffed with teams of experts who continually monitor and manage the firewall with the type of expertise and alertness that would be hard and costly to duplicate by doing it in-house.

Myth #3: Managed Firewall Services Are Only For Large Enterprises

There still exists an overbearing perception amongst most organizations, most particularly small and medium enterprises, that managed firewall services are for big business. What this assumption misses, however, is how managed service providers offer both scalability and flexibility. These are services that would apply to both small and large businesses since they offer the best security and support. In essence, managed firewalls will be the best suit for small businesses that have little capital to fund a very sound security team within the company. 

Myth #4: Managed Services Are Less Secure Than In-House Solutions

There are organizations, however, that are very reluctant to give a third party the mandate to be in charge of their security since the managed services they provide might compromise the data and network integrity of the firm. This, however, is unfounded if a reliable managed firewall service provider is used. Followed by these service providers are security processes along with infrastructure to recognize industry certifications that ensure good practice and meet high security and compliance standards. In addition, managed service providers focus only on cybersecurity, lending the expertise and focus that can provide a level of protection superior to that offered by an internal team, which would otherwise be juggling many other balls.

Myth #5: Managed firewall services are difficult to implement and manage 

Another myth that ought to be dispelled is the notion that firewall services are cumbersome in their complexity of implementation and administration. Most of them have fairly simplified onboarding processes, and they never stop giving support to ensure the continuation of operations without hitches. Once this is done, all the maintenance, updating, and optimization of the firewall are done by the provider, leaving organizations with time and resources to dedicate to those issues in core business operations.

Conclusion

This blog post has made an effort to clear the air and provide facts and clarity about cost-effectiveness, control, scalability, and security benefits that accrue to companies of either big or small sizes from managed firewall services. This means that a business should invest in strong security because the threat in cyberspace changes all the time, and a firewall service is the most trustworthy resolution. We would strongly advise that readers consider the managed service as part of a total cybersecurity defense to ensure their network and the data contained within are safely guarded from all of these possible threats.