Firewall Configuration Review
A firewall configuration review is a detailed assessment of how your organisation’s firewalls are set up and whether they are effectively protecting your network. Firewalls are a core part of your perimeter defence but if they are misconfigured they can introduce significant risks. This review helps ensure that your firewalls are properly aligned with security best practice and tailored to your business needs.
Whether you are using traditional on premise appliances, next generation firewalls or cloud based solutions the aim is to validate that access controls are correctly enforced and that your rulesets are not leaving you unnecessarily exposed.
Why It Matters
Firewalls are designed to control and filter traffic between different parts of your network and the internet. However over time rulesets can become overly complex, outdated or poorly documented. This can result in unnecessary open ports, weak access controls or overly permissive rules that attackers can exploit.
A misconfigured firewall can allow malicious traffic into your network or accidentally expose internal systems to the public. Regular reviews are essential to reduce these risks and ensure that your firewall remains effective as your infrastructure evolves.
Key Benefits
Reduce Unnecessary Exposure
Identifies open ports and services that do not need to be accessible and helps you tighten your perimeter.
Improve Rule Clarity and Efficiency
Removes redundant outdated or conflicting rules and ensures your firewall policies are clear and well structured.
Strengthen Access Controls
Verifies that only authorised users and systems can communicate across network boundaries.
Support Compliance and Audit Readiness
Helps meet the requirements of standards such as ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, PCI DSS and others that mandate secure network configuration.
Increase Operational Confidence
Gives your IT team a clearer understanding of what is allowed through the firewall and why reducing the chance of accidental misconfiguration.
How It Is Carried Out
The review begins with an analysis of the firewall’s configuration including rules, interfaces, zones, NAT policies and logging. This may be carried out by reviewing backup configuration files or through read only access to the firewall’s management interface.
Each rule is evaluated for necessity purpose and risk. The review also looks at how the firewall handles inbound and outbound traffic whether logging is enabled and whether default rules have been hardened.
The assessment can cover a range of technologies including Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto, Check Point, Sophos and cloud based firewalls such as those in AWS and Azure. You will receive a detailed report outlining the findings and practical recommendations for tightening security without disrupting essential services.
Final Thoughts
A firewall configuration review helps you regain control over one of your most important security devices. It ensures that your firewall is not just switched on but is actively protecting your environment in a way that is structured efficient and secure.
Whether you have recently deployed a new firewall, inherited an existing setup or simply want to confirm that your perimeter is doing its job this review provides the clarity and assurance you need to move forward with confidence