The 4 Essential Reasons For Having Custom Security Policies

1. Part 1: Cybersecurity and the One-Size-Fits-All Model

Providers’ generic security settings are meant to cover a large percentage of users at once. But such settings are often too generic and may miss some of the security-related concerns specific to a network/company. This may have an effect on inadequate protection measures and we become more victim to cyber threats.

2. Problems with ISP Generic Settings

Drawbacks of Generic ISP settings

Inadequate Customization: Standard settings will not address the unique requirements and vulnerabilities of diverse networks. Looking at this from the global perspective, could result in some regions having a subpar service while increasing security holes for cyber threats and causing parts of the internet to go dark.

Lack of Flexibility: Generic settings are typically not flexible and are difficult to adapt to changing security requirements. This may eventually lead to security solution that become obsolete.

Lack of Contextual Understanding: ISP settings work without considering the actual context of the network, such as what kinds of applications are being used, what level is user interaction there and what kind if threat model the network sees. This can in turn result in unfocused protection and exposure to a growing array of vulnerabilities.

Overly Broad or Overly Narrow: The generic settings can be either too loose, offering too little protection, or too tight, missing the important threats. This can lead to a security solution that is essentially worthless or at best not fully functional.

3. Customized Security Policies:

Address limitations above and provide a tailored solution that accounts for custom needs and vulnerabilities of the network. Elements of effective customized security policies:

• Zones: Define security zones within the network, for example, trusted and untrusted zones to manage traffic flow and security enforcement.
• Address Objects: Define address objects to protect or restrict IP addresses or group of IP addresses.
• Application Objects: Define application objects to specify application profiles to allow or prohibit.
• User Objects: Define user objects to specify roles and permissions.
• Scheduler Objects: Define scheduler objects to define when the policy needs to be enacted.
• Action Profiles: Define action profiles that define what to do – permit or deny.

4. Success Stories: Where and How Custom Solutions Work Well

Juniper SRX Series: Allows for extensive configuration of security policies, including zones, address objects, application objects, user objects, scheduler objects, and action profiles. Work well for highly customized network configurations.

Windows 10 Security Settings: Can be customized using Group Policy Objects to manage the security for multiple devices. Can control account policy, local policy, user rights assignment, and security options.

Firepower Management Center: Allows the creation of a custom network analysis and intrusion policy, which can be enforced in multiple zones or networks.

5. In Summary: It All Comes Down to Customized Protection

To sum up, adaptive security policies are key pieces of security of compliance puzzle. One-size-fits-all ISP settings often fail to meet the unique requirements and risks of each network. It delivers a very holistic level of security and protection against cyber threats by way of crafting custom security policy for each network based on its specific context and requirements.