Firewall Optimization for Zero Trust Network Security

The Zero Trust framework state-of-the-art today cannot allow us to ignore Firewall Optimization while still talking about network security. But keeping that tight security without bogging down your network’s speed is a challenge — and it can be done. So often in the world of Zero Trust, read: all the complicated stuff, your network gets bogged down without you even realising it!

Performance Considerations

The first thing we have to acknowledge is that Zero Trust firewalls are complex. Each connection is inspected, verified and re-verified, which can slow things down. But don’t fret, there are measures you can take to keep the performance from lagging.

• Know your baseline: Measure your current network speed and load. Understand what overhead Zero Trust can bring.
• Upgrade your hardware: Legacy firewalls can become traffic bottlenecks. New hardware and devices also make an impact, a world of difference.
• Better segmentation of your network: When you segment your network into smaller and smaller pieces, firewalls process less traffic at each time.
• Always Monitor: Keep checking firewall logs and network traffic. Look for spikes that might indicate a bottleneck.

Keep in mind, minor delays may occur, but they don’t need to take back the entire system.

Firewall Rule Optimization

This is where many organizations fall flat. A whole lot of badly designed rules can bring your firewall to a crawl.

Here’s how you can make most of your firewall rules:

•  Reduce the number of rules: Less rules almost always means less time spent processing.
• Rule order: Place most matching rules at the top. Your firewall checks the rules in order.
• Don’t have overlapping rules: These add unnecessary processing time due to duplicates.
• Be judicious with IP whitelisting: Whitelist trusted IPs only; don’t overdo it — “broad-whitelisting” weakens security.
• Periodic audits: Review and prune your rules regularly. Stale rules just add drag.

The rules for your firewall are sort of like a checklist. The shorter and more easily understood, the quicker your firewall does its task.

Secure Access Controls

Zero Trust stands for never trust, always verify. This holds true also for access controls and can lead to performance issues if it’s not implemented well.

To ensure things continue to run smoothly:

• Reinforce identity verification: Use multi-factor authentication (MFA). It adds security, without dragging down your access too much.
• Use least privilege: Give users only the access they need. Fewer access requests mean less traffic to triage.
• Use dynamic access control: Change user permissions based upon the real-time context — such as device health, location, behavior.
• Utilize Single Sign-On (SSO): It minimizes repeated logins and reduces network overhead.

You minimize undue network load by creating access rules that are both secure and efficient.

Traffic Filtering Strategies

Traffic filtering is a bread and butter feature of Zero Trust firewalls but can be a latency driver if not done right.

Here’s some stuff to keep things nice and sharp:

• Do not opt for deep packet inspection for all traffic: Deep packet inspection should be reserved for suspicious or critical traffic.
• Introduce some context in filtering policies: User roles, device types and location matters.
• Segment trusted vs untrusted traffic: Differentiate so filtering is simplified.
• Make use of threat intelligence feeds: Block known bad traffic automatically, without human action.
• Application filtering: Be aware of what is running on your network. Only allow the apps that you approve.

Smart filtering means your firewall isn’t flooded with irrelevant inspections.

Cloud-Based Firewalls

There is great potential for improved performance for Zero Trust capabilities using cloud-based firewalls that offer opportunities to prospect additional capabilities.

Why consider them?

• Scalability: They can scale better than on-prem hardware during traffic spikes.
• Lower latency: Placing cloud firewalls closer to users means security is located closer to them as well.
• Integrated threat intelligence: It’s important to have updated threat info and the best thing about cloud is that threat intelligence can be updated in real-time by the provider.
• Streamlined management: A central control panel can simplify firewall rule optimization.
• Affordable: You only get charged for how much you use with no big hardware spending.

If your business is already cloud-native, then using cloud-native firewalls can win big on the security versus performance balancing act.

In short, when it comes to firewall optimization and Zero Trust performance, good strategy is better than slapping on more tech. Focusing on performance considerations, simplifying your firewall rules, tightening access controls with efficiency in mind, using savvy traffic filtering tactics and leveraging cloud-based firewalls can grant you robust network security that doesn’t impede your progress.

So use these tips to begin tuning your Zero Trust firewalls today. Your network’s speed and safety will be grateful.