The threat landscape for enterprise security is always changing and requires constant

adaptation. The latest evolutionary demands for corporate networks include the cloud and
remote work—environments where the old hub-and-spoke approach is less than ideal.
Cloud-based network security is purpose-built to secure resources wherever they reside.

Cloud-Based Network Security in Brief

Zero Trust Security FWaaS

Zero Trust means only permitting access to those Firewall-as-a-Service works with ZTNA to prevent
who require it and continually verifying that each anyone from accessing resources without an
person is meeting pre-determined access policies. authorized identity such as a specific user, group, or
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) secures company originating IP address. Just like on-premises firewalls,
resources at the application level employing standard FWaaS defends against unwanted entry into company
logins and MFA authorization, as well as at the device resources and networks.
level utilizing posture checks, and context-based
permissions such as time of day and location.

SWG High-performance connectivity

A Secure Web Gateway (SWG) protects company A network security solution should be responsive
employees while web browsing. It prevents outbound and provide a smooth user experience. To enable
traffic from accessing restricted content such as this, the solution should ideally be cloud-based with
gambling sites, as well as known or suspected points-of-presence (PoPs) distributed throughout the
malicious file destinations. It also scans inbound globe. Companies can then choose PoPs in locations
traffic for malicious web content. near their employees, for better responsiveness and
connectivity rather than backhauling traffic through
physical data centers.

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Network Security Checklist

Map Your Network’s Architecture (user devices, on-prem services and

appliances, cloud services, etc.)

Assess Your Needs (VPN replacement, cloud firewall, Zero Trust solutions,
DNS filtering, device posture check, etc.)

Enable SSO With MFA

Define Group Access Policies

Define Compliance Needs

Research Solutions Based on Assessments Above

Acquire and Deploy Your Cloud-Based Network Security Solution

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The Checklist Explained

Map Your Network’s Architecture

The first thing you need to do is assess what your corporate infrastructure
looks like, be it as a list or a diagram. It’s important to understand your on-
premises needs such as the number of data centers your company has.

Also include all the cloud services the company uses—at least the ones you
know about. Again, try to be as exhaustive as possible, not forgetting about
that one Heroku app that DevOps is using.

Then it’s on to endpoints. What kind of devices are your remote employees
using? Is it all company-owned Macs, a mix of Windows and Mac, what
about phones or tablets that might be used to access company resources?
Also consider BYOD devices and what employees are currently using those
for.

Locations are also a key part of assessing your needs since this will help
determine the optimal PoPs to connect to.

Assess Your Needs

Next, it’s time to consider what we’re trying to accomplish with the move
to a cloud-based network security provider. Is it purely a VPN replacement
with better latency for employees spread out across multiple locations? Do
you want to boost security with a modern Zero Trust approach that includes
more restrictive permissions instead of providing carte blanche access to
the network and resources?

What about adding a SWG for secure web access and malware protection,
as well as logging activity for incident response purposes? Do you need
static IPs, or access control at the DNS level?

All of these issues need to be taken into consideration. If you’re moving to

a cloud-based network security model from the traditional hub-and-spoke
approach then we strongly recommend adopting a zero trust model. This
includes Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) for company devices, as well as
an agentless option for unmanaged devices and third-party access such as
by contractors.

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Enable SSO with MFA Using an IdP with SSO
Using an identity provider (IdP) with single sign-on (SSO) support and and MFA support is
multi-factor authentication (MFA) is highly recommended when moving to best when moving to
a converged network security solution. An SSO IdP provides a better user
a converged network
experience that avoids the need to perform multiple logins every day. It also
security solution.
makes it much easier to gain visibility over logins and to group users for Zero
Trust access purposes.

If you have your own homegrown identity management system then look
for services that support the System for Cross-domain Management (SCIM)
specification. If your company uses multiple providers, support for Security
Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 is also a must.

Define Group Access Policies

Once you have your identity provider worked out and implemented it’s
important to consider user group permissions for your future Zero Trust
Network Access approach. Sales and marketing may need access to
Salesforce, for example, but those departments don’t need access to the
codebase on GitHub, or the production database for the website. These
kinds of finely segmented permissions make it easier to control who has
access to what, and limit the impacts of a breach should the worst happen.

Define Compliance Needs

Compliance is a key concern for any business that works in sensitive

industries like healthcare, or a company doing business in Europe that must
comply with local laws. Even if you know your compliance requirements
well, listing them all (ISO 27001 & 27002, HIPAA, GDPR) is a key step before
looking at any service provider.

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Research Solutions Based on Assessments Above

Once you’ve got everything figured out in terms of infrastructure, needs and
goals, and compliance requirements, you have an excellent list to take with
you during product research.

There are many different options to consider here as well. Do you want a
full Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform
where all deployment is taken care of by the service provider, or do you want
something more DIY and customizable? Most companies want a service
that reduces the burden on their IT teams so they can spend more time
monitoring for threats, and assisting end users.

Nevertheless, there are cloud solutions that require more manual

deployment; however, these companies tend to be pure cloud VPN or Zero
Trust solutions without additional components such as cloud firewalls and
secure web gateways–key factors for a complete cloud-based network
security solution.

Perimeter 81 Checks All the Boxes Perimeter 81’s

Perimeter 81 has a full-featured, cloud-based network security solution full-featured, cloud-
that can help segment your resources, and keep your employees and data based network security
secure. Perimeter 81’s ZTNA solution allows companies to continually verify
solution checks all the
that employees are meeting authentication standards for accessing company
boxes.
resources with DPC and context-based checks.

The platform also supports the major single sign-on identity providers
including Google, Jumpcloud, Microsoft’s Azure Active Directory, Okta, and
OneLogin. There is also SCIM support for those with homegrown SSOs, and
SAML 2.0 for companies that use multiple providers.

Perimeter 81’s platform can help you meet compliance burdens for ISO 27001
and 27002, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type 2, and the GDPR.

Finally, the Perimeter 81 platform can build a network for your company
in minutes and have you up and running in just a few hours, depending on
company size.

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What Cloud-native Network Security Can Do for Your There are multiple
Business business benefits
There are multiple business benefits when using a cloud-based network when using a cloud-
security solution. It’s fast to deploy since there is no hardware burden for based network
your internal team. Deployment is just a matter of choosing the best PoP
security solution.
locations for your cloud network and connecting your services.

There are also significant cost savings since a cloud-native solution helps
you do away with expensive appliances such as SD-Wan, VPN, and branch
office firewalls. The reduction of hardware also relieves your team of
significant maintenance time for urgent security patches, operating system
upgrades, and, in some cases, malware signature updates.

There’s also no need to worry about oversubscribing with Perimeter 81 since

you only need to purchase the number of seats you need. Then as the needs
of the business grow you can expand your requirements at the click of a
button. Compare that to the legacy approach where “forklift upgrades” to
more costly machines with greater capacity are the norm.

Reaching Internal Consensus

If there are other stakeholders that need to get onboard with your move to
cloud-native network security we suggest discussing Perimeter 81’s findings
with them. You can find more details in our latest State of Cybersecurity
Report.

It’s also a good idea to show what the day-to-day benefits will look like from
tools such as ZTNA (our ZTNA datasheet can help you there). Another option
is to show a scenario of what a potential breach would look like without a
cloud-native network security approach versus having one in place. Imagine
a hacker obtaining employee login credentials from a marketing employee,
for example, and how they wouldn’t be able to use that login to break into
the codebase or HR records–or gain access at all if location and time-of-day
contexts are used.

Contact us today to set-up a demo to see the Perimeter 81 platform in action,

or start building your secure network right away via our intuitive dashboard.

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Perimeter 81 is a robust, yet easy-to-use, converged networking and
network security platform which connects all users, in the office or remote,
to all resources, located on-prem, or clouds. It is a cloud-native service that
includes advanced capabilities such as Zero Trust remote access, Internet
access control, malware protection and firewall as a service. It enables any
business to build a secure corporate network over a private global backbone,
without hardware and within minutes. The entire service is managed from a
unified console and is backed by an award-winning global support team that
has you covered 24/7.

Contact Us
Perimeter 81 Ltd.
[email protected]
https://www.perimeter81.com

Request a Demo

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