What is a Cloud Firewall? FWaaS, NGFW, K8s Firewalls and More
Like traditional firewalls, cloud firewalls are security products that filter out potentially malicious network traffic. However, unlike traditional firewalls, these firewalls are hosted in the cloud. Just as traditional network firewalls create barriers around an organization’s internal network, cloud-based firewalls create virtual barriers around cloud platforms, infrastructure and applications. These types of firewalls can also protect on-premises infrastructure.
How Cloud Firewalls Work
Like an on-premises firewall, a firewall running in the public cloud identifies and controls applications, grants access through user-based policies and prevents known and unknown threats from entering the network perimeter.
Cloud firewalls provide visibility into network and application traffic across multi-cloud environments. Advanced solutions provide automation and centralized management, enabling developers to build security into the cloud development life cycle. Many of these firewalls support modern continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) processes.
A cloud firewall is deployed as a virtual appliance in a cloud computing environment. They work by inspecting and filtering traffic flowing between cloud resources such as virtual machines (VMs) and the internet. By inspecting traffic at the network layer, cloud firewalls can protect against a variety of network threats, including denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, malware and data breaches.
Another important feature is network segmentation and microsegmentation policies. These solutions can isolate sensitive applications and data into safe segments, block lateral movement of threats and simplify compliance.
Cloud Firewalls Vs. Traditional Firewalls
Setup and Deployment
Cloud firewalls are easy to set up because they are a software program that needs to be deployed with no hardware required.
Traditional firewalls take longer to set up because both hardware and software are involved. Setting up an on-premises firewall typically requires more technical expertise.
Scalability
Cloud firewalls are highly scalable and can be scaled up and down effortlessly. Scaling either occurs automatically or is done in coordination with the vendor’s customer support.
On-premises firewalls are not easily scalable. As the business grows, you may need additional hardware to support growing network traffic volumes.
Maintenance
Cloud firewalls are easy to maintain because service providers deliver software updates, configuration, patch management and other routine tasks.
Traditional firewalls require IT staff to handle these tasks. Therefore, more resources and effort are required.
On the other hand, with a traditional firewall, you have full control over network performance and operation. You can customize settings and actions and easily integrate with custom applications. Cloud firewalls do not provide this level of granular control and flexibility because they are managed by third-party service providers.
Availability
Cloud firewalls have built-in vendor-provided redundancy and backups. This means that if the primary firewall fails, a backup firewall automatically takes over.
Traditional firewalls may not provide the same level of availability unless you set up a backup firewall. Setup and administration costs can be high.
Types of Cloud Firewalls
Next-Generation Firewalls
Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) have many of the same features as traditional firewalls but also include features such as deep packet inspection (DPI), intrusion prevention systems (IPS), advanced malware detection, application awareness and control. NGFW addresses a wider range of potential threats and is better suited for a modern threat landscape.
Combining next-generation firewall capabilities with cloud-based deployment provides a next-generation cloud firewall. These firewalls are deployed virtually, rather than within appliances, in the form of a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solution or using an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model.
Firewall-as-a-Service (FwaaS)
Migration to cloud-based platforms and the growing use of mobile devices are breaking down traditional network boundaries. The evolution of modern networks is forcing changes in network security. FWaaS solutions move firewall functions to the cloud instead of running the firewall within the traditional network perimeter.
Firewall-as-a-service moves NGFW capabilities from physical devices to software-based services. By decoupling security functions from the physical infrastructure, organizations can securely connect remote mobile workers and offices to modern enterprise networks, where applications can reside either on-premises or in the cloud.
Kubernetes Firewall
Kubernetes is a popular container orchestration platform that supports applications distributed across public, private and hybrid clouds. Learn more in this detailed blog about Kubernetes architecture.
Kubernetes does not provide a built-in solution to secure ingress/egress traffic (traffic flowing between a Kubernetes cluster and external networks), but you can deploy a firewall solution to restrict traffic and prevent data leakage.
A Kubernetes firewall tracks and filters all inbound and outbound communication to and from the production cluster. You must allow necessary traffic, keep the specified default and custom ports open and block other data transfers in and out of each Kubernetes cluster. Essentially, a Kubernetes firewall protects your cluster from the outside world.
Conclusion
In this article, I explained the basics of cloud firewalls, how they differ from traditional network firewalls and described a few major types of solutions:
● Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) – Next-generation firewalls can be deployed together with any cloud resources, providing advanced packet inspection and malware filtering capabilities.
● FwaaS (firewall-as-a-service) – Decouples security functions from physical infrastructure, allowing organizations to use firewalls as a fully managed service.
● Kubernetes firewall – Firewall solutions are available for Kubernetes clusters, making it possible to secure Kubernetes in the on-premises data center and in the public cloud by blocking data transfers in and out of Kubernetes clusters.
I hope this will be useful as you adopt the latest in firewall technology.
