In the wake of digital transformation, the work landscape as we know it has undergone a dynamic shift. People can now work from home, from the office, or anywhere with a stable internet connection. Labeled as hybrid work, organizations have gradually started to adopt this seamless blend between remote work and on-site engagement.

According to the digital readiness survey by ManageEngine, remote work will have a lasting impact with 96% of organizations stating that they will be supporting remote workers for at the least the next two years. While the remote working model offers significant advantages to employees, such as a better work-life balance, it presents significant challenges for organizations in extending office-like network security.

To ensure the success of hybrid work, every organization should address challenges related to security, compliance, and data protection. This article delves into the risks and issues associated with ensuring compliance in a hybrid work environment. Let's dive in.

Key Topics:

• Network Compliance in a Hybrid Work Environment
  • Consequences of compliance violations
  • Challenges in upholding compliance in a hybrid work environment
• Mitigating the Challenges with ManageEngine
  • Firewall Analyzer
  • Network Configuration Manager
• Summary

Network Compliance in a Hybrid Work Environment

Compliance refers to the adherence of an organization's infrastructure, configuration, and policies to industry standards. In a hybrid work environment where employees are working away from the office, it becomes difficult to ensure compliance. To overcome this, companies are employing a deluge of smart monitoring systems to make sure they stay compliant with industry norms.

Besides legal obligation, compliance also helps in safeguarding networks from security incidents such as breach attempts, overlooked vulnerabilities, and other operational inefficiencies.

Consequences of Compliance Violations

Non-compliance, which refers to the failure to adhere to laws, regulations, or established guidelines, can have a wide range of repercussions that vary depending on several factors. The severity of these consequences is often determined by the nature and extent of the violation, the specific mandate or regulation that has been breached, and the subsequent impact on various stakeholders involved. Here, we delve into the potential consequences of non-compliance in more detail:

Firewall.cx’s download section now includes the Cisco WLC Wireless Controllers Compatibility Matrix as a free download. The file contains two PDFs with an extensive list of all old and new Cisco Wireless Controllers and their supported Access Points across a diverse range of firmware versions.

WLCs compatibility list includes: WLC 2100, 2504, 3504, 4400, 5508, 5520, 7510, 8510, 8540, Virtual Controller, WiSM, WiSM2, SRE, 9800 series and more. 

Access Point series compatibility list includes: 700, 700W, 1000, 1100, 1220, 1230, 1240, 1250, 1260, 1300, 1400, 1520, 1530, 1540, 1550, 1560, 1600, 1700, 1800, 2600, 2700, 2800, 3500, 3600, 3700, 3800, 4800, IW6300, 9100, 9130, 9160,

The compatibility matrix PDFs provide an invaluable map, ensuring that your network components are supported across different software versions. Make informed choices, plan upgrades with precision, and optimize your network's performance effortlessly.

Check the compatibility between various WLC hardware & virtual versions, Access Points and a plethora of Cisco software offerings, such as Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), Cisco Prime Infrastructure, innovative Cisco Spaces, and the versatile Mobility Express. This compatibility matrix extends far beyond devices, painting a holistic picture of how different elements of your Cisco ecosystem interact with one another.  Make informed choices, plan upgrades with precision, and optimize your network's performance effortlessly.

Click here to visit the download page.

Firewall security management is a combination of monitoring, configuring, and managing your firewall to make sure it runs at its best to effectively ward off network security threats. In this article, we will explore the seven must-have features of a firewall security management tool and introduce Firewall Analyzer, a popular Firewall Management Tool that has set the golden standard in Firewall Management across all vendors of firewall and security products.  Furthermore, we'll explain how central firewall policy management, VPN management, log analysis, log retention, compliance management and threat identification/forensics, help create a robust cybersecurity and network security posture that increases your organization's ability to protect its networks, information, and systems from threats.

The seven must-have features of a firewall security management tool are:

1. Firewall Policy Management
2. VPN Management
3. Firewall Change Management
4. Compliance Management
5. Log Analysis & Threat Identification
6. Log Retention & Forensics
7. Network Security Alerts

Let’s take a look at each of these features and provide examples that showcase their importance.

Firewall Policy Management

This is the process of managing and organizing your firewall rules. These firewall rules and policies dictate the traffic that is entering and exiting your network, and can also be used to block illegitimate traffic.

Why is this important? Effective firewall policy management can be used to ensure firewall policies never become outdated, redundant, or misconfigured, leaving the network open to attacks.  

One of the primary challenges in firewall policy management is the potential for human error. Configuring firewall rules and policies requires a deep understanding of network architecture, application requirements, and security best practices. Unfortunately, even experienced IT professionals can make mistakes due to various factors, such as time constraints, lack of communication, or a misunderstanding of the network's specific needs.

Different individuals within an organization may also have different levels of expertise and understanding when it comes to firewall policies. This diversity in knowledge and experience can lead to inconsistencies, redundant rules, or conflicting configurations, compromising the firewall's overall effectiveness.

Taking proactive steps to manage firewall policies effectively can significantly enhance an organization's security posture and protect valuable assets from potential breaches and cyberattacks. This is where solutions such as Firewall Analyzer can undertake the burden of managing firewall policies through an intuitive, simplified and easy-to-follow interface no matter the vendor of firewall you’re dealing with.

Few of the key-features offered by Firewall Analyzer include:

• Gain enhanced visibility on all the rules in your firewall and a comprehensive understanding of your security posture.
• Quickly identify and record anomalies in redundant, generalized, correlated, shadowed, or grouped rules.
• Analyze firewall policies and get suggestions on changes to rule order to optimize performance.
• Simplify the rule creation, modification, and deletion process.
• Check the impact of a new rule on the existing rule set.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of IT operations, organizations are increasingly turning to Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) to streamline their processes, enhance efficiency, and overcome the challenges of managing complex and dynamic IT environments.

AIOps combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics to deliver powerful insights and automation capabilities that drive transformative benefits. In this article we'll explore the significance of AIOps in the modern IT era.

Key Topics:

• Proactive Problem Resolution
• Efficient IT Operations
• Enhanced Data Visibility and Insights
• Improved Incident Management and Resolution
• Scalability and Flexibility
• Summary

Download your free complete guide to Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations.

AIOps abstract architecture (Free ManageEngine Whitepaper) - click to enlarge

Proactive Problem Resolution

AIOps enables organizations to move away from reactive approaches to IT management. By leveraging machine learning algorithms and advanced analytics, AIOps can identify patterns, anomalies, and potential issues in real-time. This proactive approach empowers IT teams to address problems before they impact end-users, improving system availability, and reducing mean-time-to-resolution.

Event noise filtering with the help of AIOps (Free ManageEngine Whitepaper)