Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) is a cloud-based security model that provides firewall capabilities as a virtual service. Unlike traditional firewalls, which rely on hardware or software on a device, FWaaS allows organizations to manage security policies through a centralized platform accessible via the cloud.
This approach provides greater flexibility and scalability, enabling organizations to protect diverse and distributed networks more effectively than with legacy solutions. Rather than managing firewall infrastructure locally, organizations can leverage the expertise of cloud security providers. This transition to a service model enables ongoing updates, ensuring that security measures remain current without requiring direct input from in-house IT teams.
This is part of a series of articles about application security.
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Traditional firewalls, often hardware-based appliances deployed at the network perimeter, provided foundational security by filtering traffic based on predefined rules. These solutions worked well in a time when organizational networks were centralized, and the majority of users and applications resided within on-premise environments.
However, the rise of cloud computing, remote work, and decentralized network structures has rendered traditional firewalls insufficient for modern security needs. As networks became more distributed, maintaining consistent protection required solutions that could adapt to dynamic environments and scale effortlessly.
Cloud-based firewalls emerged to address these limitations, leveraging virtualization to offer similar capabilities without the need for physical devices. Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) extends the capabilities of traditional and cloud-based firewalls into a scalable service model, where service providers take responsibility for managing and updating firewall infrastructure.
Related content: Read our guide to Cloud Application Security.
Unified Security Policies Across Networks
With FWaaS, administrators can establish and modify rules from a single control point, ensuring that policies are uniformly applied and eliminating discrepancies that could lead to vulnerabilities. This centralized management reduces complexity and minimizes configuration errors.
Implementing unified policies means organizations can adapt more rapidly to changing security demands. When updates are necessary, changes are executed uniformly across all systems, avoiding the inconsistencies that often arise with manual configuration tasks.
Scalability and Flexibility
As organizational needs grow or fluctuate, FWaaS can adjust accordingly without significant hardware investments or infrastructure overhauls. Organizations benefit from the ability to scale their security measures proportionally to their network size.
The flexibility inherent in FWaaS is prominent in multi-location environments where security needs vary widely. Cloud-based deployment allows for customized security configurations that meet local requirements while maintaining overall network cohesion.
Simplified Deployment and Maintenance
FWaaS simplifies deployment and maintenance challenges typically associated with traditional firewall solutions. The cloud-based nature of FWaaS means security infrastructure can be deployed more quickly without extensive setup procedures or physical installations. This eliminates time-consuming configurations, allowing organizations to bring new security measures online efficiently.
Once deployed, FWaaS requires less maintenance than hardware-based solutions. Updates and patches are managed by the service provider, relieving internal teams of these routine tasks and reducing the risk of unpatched vulnerabilities.
Advanced Threat Protection
FWaaS equips organizations with proactive defenses against sophisticated attacks. By leveraging contemporary technologies like machine learning and behavior analysis, FWaaS can identify and neutralize threats that traditional solutions might miss.
Moreover, FWaaS integrates real-time threat intelligence, enabling quick detection and response to emerging vulnerabilities. Through continuous monitoring and AI-driven analysis, threats are identified before they impact network integrity.
Integration with SASE Architecture
FWaaS integrates with secure access service edge (SASE) architecture, consolidating network security services into a single cloud-delivered platform. This integration offers a holistic approach to networking and security by combining wide-ranging protection features like secure web gateways, zero trust network access, and FWaaS. It simplifies network management and improves security across cloud, on-premise, and hybrid environments.
The synergy between FWaaS and SASE ensures secure and seamless connectivity, crucial for enterprises adopting cloud-centric operational models. This integration enables scalable, secure, and efficient network solutions.
Eva Abergel
Eva is a solution expert in Radware’s security group. Her domain of expertise is DDoS protection, where she leads positioning, messaging and product launches. Prior to joining Radware, Eva led a Product Marketing and Sales Enablement team at a global robotics company acquired by Bosch and worked as an Engineer at Intel. Eva holds a B.Sc. degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Ariel University and an Entrepreneurship Development certificate from the York Entrepreneurship Development Institute of Canada.
Tips from the Expert:
In my experience, here are tips that can help you better leverage Firewall as a Service (FWaaS):
1. Leverage microsegmentation for granular control: Use FWaaS to implement microsegmentation within the network, isolating sensitive workloads and ensuring that east-west traffic is monitored and controlled. This minimizes the attack surface and limits the spread of intrusions.
2. Incorporate user identity in policy enforcement: Enhance FWaaS capabilities by integrating user identity into firewall policies. This allows for dynamic rules based on user roles, access levels, or geographic location, providing context-aware security.
3. Use FWaaS analytics for proactive defense: Take full advantage of FWaaS analytics by setting up alerts and automated responses for anomalous traffic patterns. These insights can help identify and address potential breaches before they escalate.
4. Ensure API-level security: With the increasing use of APIs in modern applications, configure FWaaS to inspect API traffic for vulnerabilities. This adds an extra layer of protection against API-specific attacks like injection or abuse.
5. Test failover capabilities regularly: FWaaS is often used in mission-critical environments. Regularly test its failover mechanisms to ensure minimal downtime during outages or peak traffic events, safeguarding continuous security and network availability.
Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) operates as a virtualized solution hosted in the cloud, offering firewall capabilities traditionally implemented through on-premise appliances. FWaaS providers maintain large-scale firewall infrastructure in their data centers, achieving cost efficiency through economies of scale.
Customers access these services through isolated virtual instances, ensuring security and privacy by preventing one customer from accessing or modifying another's configurations. Organizations use a centralized management interface or dashboard to configure their FWaaS instance. This interface often mirrors the tools used for traditional on-premise firewalls.
To deploy FWaaS, an organization configures its firewall rules based on security policies. Next, adjustments to the network and DNS settings redirect traffic through the FWaaS provider’s infrastructure. Once this virtual routing is established, the FWaaS environment becomes the organization’s first line of defense, replacing on-premise perimeter firewall configurations.
In this model, the firewall’s physical location shifts from the organization’s data center or network operations center (as seen in traditional setups) to the cloud infrastructure of the FWaaS provider. This relocation extends the network perimeter to the provider's environment, enabling consistent enforcement of security policies across distributed systems and remote users.
FWaaS vs. traditional network firewalls
Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) offers benefits over traditional firewalls, primarily in flexibility and scalability. Unlike hardware-dependent traditional firewalls, FWaaS is cloud-native, allowing organizations to scale their security proportional to network needs without added hardware costs. FWaaS also offers centralized management, simplifying security operations across multi-site environments.
While traditional firewalls require physical installation and manual updates, FWaaS automates these processes, reducing administrative burden and risk of human error. Additionally, FWaaS enables real-time threat intelligence integration, providing up-to-date protection against emerging threats.
FWaaS vs. Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW)
FWaaS and next-generation firewalls (NGFW) both offer advanced security features, but FWaaS extends those capabilities beyond NGFW appliances. FWaaS provides cloud-based deployment models that enable global reach and scalability, which is not possible with hardware-dependent NGFWs. The as-a-service model supports more dynamic policy enforcement across distributed networks.
NGFWs are predominantly on-premises solutions, combining traditional firewall capabilities with additional security functions like application awareness and intrusion prevention. FWaaS complements and, in some cases, extends NGFWs by offering flexible, cloud-enabled security that quickens response times and deployment.
Here are some important best practices to consider when implementing a firewall as a service.
1. Enforce the Principle of Least Privilege
Always configure FWaaS to follow the “least privilege” principle, which limits user and system access to only what is necessary for specific roles or tasks. Start by setting the default network policy to “Deny,” ensuring no traffic is allowed unless explicitly permitted by a firewall rule.
This approach minimizes the attack surface and reduces the risk of lateral movement by attackers. Avoid overly permissive rules, such as “Allow All,” as they increase exposure to potential vulnerabilities.
2. Define Clear and Granular Firewall Rules
Design firewall rules with specificity to ensure precise control over network traffic. Rules can be structured based on:
- Resources or services: Focus on protecting critical assets by creating rules for specified resources. For example, grant database access only to users or teams that require it.
- User groups: Tailor rules for departments or user groups, like granting marketing access to tools like Salesforce while restricting access to development servers.
- Group-to-service mapping: For highly sensitive systems, create rules that allow access for specific users or groups to specific services. Be cautious with this approach as it can complicate management if not well-organized.
3. Segment the Network
Segment the network into logical zones, such as public, private, and sensitive areas, to apply tailored security policies to different sections of the environment. Use access control lists (ACLs) to define which users or groups can access specified segments.
For example, isolate production environments from development environments and ensure sensitive financial systems are accessible only to authorized personnel.
4. Enable Advanced Security Features
Take full advantage of FWaaS capabilities to bolster the organization’s defenses. Consider enabling the following:
- Intrusion prevention system (IPS): Detect and block malicious activity in real-time.
- URL filtering: Restrict access to malicious or unauthorized websites.
- Anti-malware scanning: Scan for and neutralize malware in both incoming and outgoing traffic.
- Deep packet inspection (DPI): Inspect the content of data packets, including encrypted traffic, to detect hidden threats. Be mindful of potential performance and privacy implications.
- SSL/TLS inspection: Decrypt and analyze encrypted traffic to detect cyber threats concealed within secure sessions.
5. Test and Validate Before Deployment
Before rolling out the FWaaS solution, perform thorough testing to ensure it aligns with the organization’s security policies and does not disrupt legitimate traffic. Simulate potential attack scenarios to validate these configurations. Post-deployment, conduct vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to identify any gaps in the new defenses.
6. Continuously Monitor and Update
FWaaS provides centralized visibility into the network. Use this to monitor traffic patterns and respond to alerts in real-time. Regularly review firewall rules and update them as the network evolves or new threats emerge. Perform periodic compliance reviews to ensure the firewall settings align with the latest regulatory requirements.
Radware offers an advanced cloud-based FWaaS solution as part of our Cloud DDoS Protection service to ensure effective protection against advanced threats:
Cloud Firewall as a Service
Radware’s Cloud Firewall as a Service (offered with Radware’s Cloud DDoS Protection Service) is a comprehensive, cloud-native security solution designed to safeguard hybrid and multi-cloud environments. It offers robust protection against advanced threats, including application-layer attacks, network-level breaches, and lateral movement within cloud environments. The solution combines advanced traffic inspection, intrusion prevention, and micro-segmentation capabilities to ensure zero-trust security principles are effectively implemented. With seamless integration into existing infrastructures, it provides centralized management, real-time threat intelligence, and automated response mechanisms to enhance operational efficiency and secure business continuity.
Cloud DDoS Protection Service
Radware’s Cloud DDoS Protection Service offers advanced, multi-layered defense against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. It uses sophisticated behavioral algorithms to detect and mitigate threats at both the network (L3/4) and application (L7) layers. This service provides comprehensive protection for infrastructure, including on-premises data centers and public or private clouds. Key features include real-time detection and mitigation of volumetric floods, DNS DDoS attacks, and sophisticated application-layer attacks like HTTP/S floods. Additionally, Radware’s solution offers flexible deployment options, such as on-demand, always-on, or hybrid models, and includes a unified management system for detailed attack analysis and mitigation.