What is a Hybrid Mesh Firewall?
A hybrid mesh firewall platform (HMF) is a comprehensive network security solution from a single vendor that delivers consistent security across multiple locations and location types. Managed from a single management plane, a hybrid mesh firewall platform encompasses hardware, software, and cloud firewalls as well as security services. This enables consistent policy enforcement with centralized management. An HMF allows organizations to protect all of their environments - including on-premises data centers, cloud environments, remote workforces, campuses, branches, and operational facilities with a common security framework.
Why Are Hybrid Mesh Firewalls Important?
The current IT landscape is increasingly distributed and complex. Modern IT environments include corporate data centers, public and private clouds, remote employees, campuses, branches, and operational facilities. Dispersion has increased the importance of robust network security systems capable of safeguarding diverse environments. Hybrid mesh firewall platforms meet this demand by offering comprehensive coverage across all network segments. HMF platforms are crucial because they simplify security architecture, as well as enable consistent policy enforcement and centralized control without the burden of managing disparate security solutions.
“By 2026, more than 60% of organizations will have more than one type of firewall deployment, which will prompt adoption of hybrid mesh firewalls. …As network firewalls evolve into hybrid mesh firewalls with the emergence of cloud firewalls and firewall-as-a-service offerings, selecting the most suitable vendor is a challenge.”
-Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Network Firewalls, 2022
Enterprises are integrating multi-cloud strategies and remote work models to meet diverse operational needs. This integration requires a manageable, unified approach to security across all platforms. The hybrid mesh firewall framework provides this, offering flexible protection and ensuring uniform security policies are in effect, regardless of whether assets are on site or in the cloud.
The increase in cyber threats and expanding attack surface call for a security solution that can quickly adapt to new challenges. Hybrid mesh firewall platforms meet this demand by enabling real time threat intelligence sharing and automated responses across the network. This approach streamlines management and allows for a more efficient allocation of IT resources, reducing the complexity of overseeing multiple security stacks.
How Hybrid Mesh Firewall Platforms Work
Hybrid mesh firewall platforms operate by integrating various firewall and security technologies into a singular system that delivers security across an organization's entire network. Integration typically includes traditional on-premises hardware, virtualized firewalls, and cloud-based firewall services. HMFs manage network traffic with a set of predetermined security rules and policies, applied uniformly regardless of where the data packets are coming from or going to. The unified streamlines security administration and enhances the ability to respond to threats in real time.
The effectiveness of a hybrid mesh firewall platform lies in its centralized management console, having the right enforcement point for a variety of environments, and AI-based security.
Via a centralized management console, the security team can oversee all network traffic, manage policies, and analyze threat data. Centralization simplifies the complex task of securing dispersed network assets. It also enables the security team to enforce consistent policies and automate responses to identified threats, greatly reducing manual workload and the potential for human error.
The ability to apply the right enforcement at various points within a diverse range of environments is crucial in ensuring network security across different platforms and locations. Furthermore, advanced security powered by AI plays a vital role. AI-driven security mechanisms enhance threat detection and response, making it possible to identify and mitigate potential risks swiftly and effectively.
Types of Firewalls Defined and Explained
Hybrid Mesh Firewall Platform Features
A robust Zero Trust Hybrid Mesh Firewall Platform is defined by three core components: diverse form factors, comprehensive security services, and an advanced control plane.
These platform features ensure a comprehensive, agile security posture that adapts to the needs of modern enterprise networks, providing unparalleled protection, management, and operational efficiency.
Diverse Form Factors
The platform includes a range of form factors, such as hardware (HW) firewalls built for every enterprise location, ensuring fortified protection from small branch offices to large data centers. Software (SW) firewalls enhance this security within public and private clouds, providing flexible, virtualized, and containerized options along with Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) models for agile security in cloud ecosystems. Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) delivers a consolidated networking and security function to support the dynamic needs of modern workforces, combining cloud-native capabilities with edge computing.
Comprehensive Security Services
An HMF requires advanced security to identify threats in real time. The leading security services are infused with AI, enabling near real-time protection. This AI-driven approach draws on extensive data analytics, processing millions of events daily to deliver robust security measures. Such services are designed to tackle an array of threats, including zero-day vulnerabilities, with the agility to adapt to the evolving threat landscape.
Advanced Control Plane
A hybrid mesh firewall platform includes a centralized control plane, orchestrating all network security operations. It offers holistic management by aggregating data across the network, providing comprehensive visibility into users, applications, and threats. This central management strengthens security by enabling proactive identification and utilization of critical security features, preventing network disruptions, and ensuring a consistent and simplified management experience across the entire security infrastructure.
Hybrid Mesh Firewall Platform Benefits
Increased Operational Efficiency
Hybrid mesh firewall platforms streamline network security operations by integrating various firewall technologies and security services into a singular management framework. Integration reduces the time and effort required to manage multiple security solutions.
The platform also facilitates a unified security strategy that aligns with an organization’s overall IT architecture. The strategic approach ensures security protocols evolve in tandem with the network infrastructure, providing enduring, scalable protection.
Agility
Hybrid mesh firewall platforms ensure agility, enabling organizations to respond quickly to new operational demands and security challenges. Adaptability is key in maintaining a resilient, robust security posture in a constantly evolving digital landscape.
The centralized management characteristic of hybrid mesh firewalls simplifies the complex task of securing modern IT environments. It allows for easier deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of security policies. This reduces the complexity typically associated with managing multiple security appliances and services.
With an integrated approach to security across hardware, software, and cloud services, HMF platforms reduce the complexity of managing diverse security environments, leading to improved operational clarity and efficiency.
Proactive Threat Mitigation
Hybrid mesh firewalls are equipped with advanced threat prevention technologies that offer resilient protection against a broad spectrum of cyber threats. Robust defense is vital in safeguarding sensitive data and maintaining business continuity.
By providing a consistent, comprehensive security posture across all network domains, hybrid mesh firewalls reduce the risk of security breaches. They ensure no area of the network is left unprotected, mitigating the chances of unauthorized access and data loss.
Automation and AI/ML Integration
The use of automation and artificial intelligence/machine learning within hybrid mesh firewalls helps in recognizing and responding to threats swiftly and accurately. This allows security teams to focus on strategic tasks by reducing the burden of manual intervention in threat detection and response.
HMF platforms use AI to deliver near real-time protection, staying ahead of adversaries by proactively identifying and blocking not only known threats but also anticipating and mitigating new, emergent cyber risks.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership
The consolidation of various security functions into a single hybrid mesh firewall platform can lead to a lower total cost of ownership. By reducing the need for multiple security solutions and the associated administrative overhead, organizations can allocate resources more efficiently.
Hybrid Mesh Firewall Misconceptions
Hybrid mesh firewalls are commonly perceived as a collection of disparate security solutions packaged together, which is not the case. A true HMF security platform unifies various firewall capabilities under a single management console. HMFs use a shared operating system to provide seamless security across an organization’s entire network. Hybrid mesh firewalls are not based on cobbling together different products but integrating different forms of firewall technology into a singular, streamlined framework.
Another misunderstanding is the belief that HMFs are too complex for practical use. HMFs are designed to simplify network security. They offer automation and centralized control that reduce complexity typically associated with managing multiple, isolated security systems. Hybrid mesh firewalls are adaptable to various IT architectures, which helps organizations maintain a robust security posture across environments without the need for constant manual oversight.
