With more and more work getting online, there is always a risk of illegal and non-permissible activities revolving around it.
Firewalls assist users in inspecting the network traffics, thus acting as a barrier between incoming and outgoing traffic.
It acts as a network monitor wherein both incoming and outgoing data is treated according to a particular set of security rules.
Firewall migration levels up network security in accordance with modern-day technology or threats.
Another reason that pushes for the necessity of firewall migration is the challenging technical needs required for modern-day business.
Firewalls performing for legacy systems might not provide better network security when a business decides to upgrade itself to modern-day ERP’s.
Let’s discuss some of the steps involved in the migration of firewalls.
10 Steps Of Firewall Migration
To successfully migrate the old firewall to a new one, users should include the below-mentioned steps in the firewall migration plan.
While auditing, the prerequisites of the new business model should be taken into consideration.
Current infrastructure has to be adequately reviewed. Proper audit assists in reducing the pre or post-migration troubles.
Information from the audit report will assist in providing configuration and validation requirements for new migration.
Collecting information related to the current network is mandatory. This information would mainly include diagrams of physical networks, labels, fiber information, Switch information, connectors, and availability of spare cables.
Moreover, one has to collect information visually too.
This includes looking where a particular device is installed on a network and which particular device is connected to such a switch.
This step will ensure time-saving and will also keep users ready in advance for any loopholes that might arise during migration.
Most firewalls are associated with specific rules which are in accordance with current network infrastructure.
With new policy and infrastructure being introduced, these rules might not work with this update and may become the reason for any breach.
Users can easily detect these firewalls' working with the help of TFA (Traffic analysis) tools.
Removal of such configurations and putting them in accordance with new policies will assist users in eliminating technical errors.
Also Read: Protect your firewall with top eight security measures
Users also have to check the hardware requirements for the new firewall. Whether there is a requirement for new hardware or the current infrastructure is completely capable of handling recent changes.
If a user has to opt for new hardware, this step will help him configure it with a new firewall.
Users need to analyze every security aspect and look out for modifications that might be necessary for some areas.
Users should remove any of the unused services or policies present in the current infrastructure.
Users should take assistance from professionals if they cannot detect any new policies, configurations, or services.
Previous firewall configurations are to be converted into a new firewall configuration file format.
This process can also be automated to make it quicker.
Configuration migration optimizes the firewall groups wherein unwanted configuration and obsolete security are removed for better consistency.
Firewall migration tools like FortiConverter, TriZetto, and Configuration Migration Utility could easily assist users in easy migration of configuration.
Within this stage, the firewall configuration is tested.
Users here are advised to test the migration process on an offline mode wherever it is possible.
Within this process, proper sanitization is done wherein it is made sure that there is no link between the new firewall configuration and the previous one.
Other important details like traffic benchmark, success criteria and service classification should also be taken into consideration.
This is the stage wherein the actual firewall migration happens.
Here, the traffic generated is transferred from the old firewall infrastructure to the new one.
All the migrations are tested against predefined benchmarks to measure the competency and assess the new firewall infrastructure.
Users are advised to imitate the migration process outside business hours to reduce business impacts.
After the cutover stage, it’s time to go live with the new firewall configuration.
Professional advice is to be taken into consideration.
Professional teams will make sure that the new firewall is in accordance with the customer NOC.
The professional teams will evaluate other assessment checks like CPU working, Session ramp-up rate and session list.
Users after the new firewall installation should run furthermore tests to be sure about its successful installation.
Users should note that if they can’t access or can’t keep up critical services through maintenance windows and are unable to detect the problem, this might indicate a possible roll-back and modifications.
Users have to be in accordance with various compliance changes too.
Users need to look out for updated compliances and according to the demand of the work to uphold its security.
The best compliance installation for any user will be if it is:
• Real-Time
• Globally accepted
• Customizable
• Accordance with machine
After new installations have happened, and proper filtering is done, it's time to decommission old hardware if it has not been used for new installations.
Every configuration should be appropriately recorded, wiped out, and efficiently recycled to avoid any post security issues.
Conclusion
Continuous threats of hackers and vulnerabilities surround the modern-day online business. Therefore, it is advised to every venture that they should install better firewalls and should follow the above-mentioned steps for a successful migration.
Also Read: 8 Best Practices for Network Monitoring
