Hybrid Mesh Firewall: How It Works

Firewall, a critical network architecture component, can be deployed in multiple ways. From traditional hardware firewalls to virtual firewalls, enterprises today use this technology in various ways to secure their network. However, having different types of firewalls can increase management complexity. 

A hybrid mesh firewall addresses this complexity by bringing management into one place. Vendors like Fortinet, Palo Alto, and Cisco offer hybrid mesh firewalls. The goal of this platform is simplicity, providing an easy way for enterprises to deploy, manage, and monitor firewalls in their data centers, offices, and even the cloud services they use. 

In this article, we will provide the following:

• An in-depth overview of hybrid mesh firewall platforms.
• An outline of its benefits.
• An overview of any challenges organizations may face when adopting them.

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What Is a Hybrid Mesh Firewall?

A hybrid mesh firewall is a singular platform that enables coordinated protection via different firewall form factors across different areas of the network in an enterprise. In other words, it’s a platform that oversees firewalls deployed across data centers, campuses, branch offices, and public/private clouds. 

The form factors in a hybrid mesh firewall include devices, virtual machines, cloud-native firewalls, and firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS). 

It’s a centralized platform that unifies the management of different forms of firewalls, offering more visibility. It’s still an emerging technology as the market isn’t saturated yet, and only a handful of vendors offer such platforms. 

A hybrid mesh firewall platform isn’t to be confused with network security policy management platforms. The latter are vendor-agnostic, meaning they can work with firewalls from different vendors. However, hybrid mesh firewall platforms are limited to a single vendor only. 

How Does a Hybrid Mesh Firewall Work?

Hybrid mesh firewalls have been introduced to cater to the growing adoption of hybrid environments on the back of cloud workloads and remote work. Such a platform extends firewall controls across different enforcement points with a single dashboard. 

It works similarly to network management platforms, except it is dedicated to firewalls. All deployments are integrated with the platform, from firewalls deployed on-premise to those on the cloud. 

A single operating system is the foundation of a hybrid mesh firewall platform that ensures a singular management framework. All the different form factors of firewalls can interoperate through this operating system. While the operating system handles the backend, the dashboard provides an easy-to-use user interface for network administrators to enforce security policies. 

By design, a hybrid mesh firewall platform can support most existing form factors of firewalls. 

Who Is a Hybrid Mesh Firewall For? 

Hybrid mesh firewall platforms are best suited for large enterprises with a large IT footprint and hybrid environments. Here’s an example of a company that can benefit from such a platform.

ABC Health is a hospital system that has a hybrid infrastructure. While it hosts sensitive patient data on-premise, most of its operations rely on infrastructure from a cloud provider. They have also deployed dozens of IoT devices, such as wearable trackers and monitoring systems, that collect data and send it back to their servers for processing. 

To secure their on-premise network, they have dedicated firewalls. They also rely on cloud-native firewalls to protect data hosted on the cloud. In addition, they utilize an FWaaS to protect devices in smaller locations outside their primary facility, connected to their leading network. 

As a healthcare company, it has to comply with HIPAA regulations and protect patient data. With dozens of dispersed firewalls, this company can use a hybrid mesh platform to enforce HIPAA-compliant security policies. 

5 Benefits of a Hybrid Mesh Firewall Platform

Here are the advantages of using a hybrid mesh firewall platform:

Reduced Complexity

The main benefit of investing in a hybrid mesh firewall solution is making the management of different firewalls used across the enterprise seamless. Complexities in network architecture, including those caused by firewalls, can result in poor security performance. These complexities can also make security policy enforcement incoherent. 

More Visibility 

The single dashboard of the hybrid mesh firewall platform is its biggest strength. You can see all the firewalls in one place, no matter their type, function, or location. Not only is this single pane of visibility of firewalls good for management, but it also makes security more robust. Any issues with firewalls can be detected early on and handled. 

Consistent Security Policy

Your organization’s security policy can only work if applied consistently. If the security policy applicable at the corporate offices can’t be applied to a worker logging in from home, the threats to data security will only grow stronger. 

A hybrid mesh firewall platform can make enforcing a uniform security policy easier through firewalls. That may be even more important for organizations subject to data protection and privacy regulations. 

Zero-Trust Model

A hybrid mesh firewall platform can help realize a zero-trust security model, which is witnessing widespread adoption. Using a singular dashboard, enterprises can set up a zero-trust approach for all firewalls under their control, even those by a cloud provider. 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Hybrid mesh firewall solutions can be combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect threats efficiently and speedily. By automating threat detection with advanced AI algorithms, companies can extend the security capabilities of their firewall deployments. 

Challenges of a Hybrid Mesh Firewall 

Although the capabilities and benefits offered by hybrid mesh firewalls sound good on paper, they can’t be fully materialized in multi-vendor environments. There’s no integration with firewalls from other vendors in hybrid mesh firewall platforms currently on the market. That limits its efficacy, as many enterprises rely on firewall technologies from different vendors. 

While some companies take the best-of-breed approach with their firewalls, others have independent business units that use their preferred vendors. In either case, using a hybrid mesh platform that can’t integrate firewalls from different vendors is challenging. 

If they want to adopt a central platform for firewall management, they must replace existing firewalls with devices from the same vendor as the one providing the platform. That’s an expensive requirement that enterprises may not be willing to afford. 

Both existing and potential vendors offering hybrid mesh firewall platforms will need to incorporate integration with firewalls from other vendors to make this technology more adaptable. 

Moreover, a central view of firewalls doesn’t necessarily mean ease of configuring all firewalls. Different firewall types work differently, but they must still be configured how they’re intended. Similarly, other policies may apply to different firewalls, adding another layer of management complexity even with a unified approach. 

The Bottom Line

Hybrid mesh firewalls are viable solutions for enterprises dealing with various form factors of firewalls. Traditional network and security policy management can offer similar benefits to a hybrid mesh firewall platform. However, the latter offers more granular control across all integrated fireworks. 

That all said, this solution may not be for everyone. Small to medium enterprises can make do with network management and security solutions they already use. More importantly, enterprises with firewalls from different vendors may only be able to use this solution by switching to a single vendor. 

With time, the firewall’s role in security has become even more essential, and its capabilities even more advanced. If you’re looking for the next-gen firewall, PivIT has your back. 

Learn more about PivIT’s procurement service to get your hands on the best firewall solutions.