FireMon’s 2019 State of the Firewall report shows lack of automation as underlying security challenge in digital transformation initiatives

FireMon released its 2019 State of the Firewall report, the annual benchmark of current issues in firewall management. The latest report finds that enterprises are slow to abandon manual processes — despite being short staffed — and that the lack of automation, increasing network complexity, and limited visibility contribute to costly misconfigurations and increased risk. 

The 2019 State of the Firewall report features feedback from nearly 600 respondents, including nearly 20 percent from the executive ranks, detailing their enterprise firewall operations in the spectrum of digital transformation initiatives. With this analysis, FireMon maps the latest industry trends to reveal the pulse of the changing security policy management landscape. 

Technology initiatives –micro-segmentation, zero trust, containers, SDN, cloudetc. all fall under the same boardroom theme: Digital Transformation. Whether the goal is to be more agile, competitive or to super-charge the supply chain, digital transformation is the glue driving the mission to be more responsive while closing the gap on security.

The sixth annual State of the Firewall Report for 2019 shows the impact that hybrid cloud is having on firewalls and firewall security, looks at key issues in automation, compliance, the influence of digital transformation, and much more, including six out of 10 enterprises have firewalls deployed in the cloud, but only three out of 10 have at least 80 percent of real-time visibility into network security risks and compliance. 

Three out of 10 respondents manage more than 100 firewalls and over half use three or more different vendors for enforcement points on their network, while 95 percent of respondents said that the firewall will be as critical or more critical than ever in the next five years.

Highlighting this scenario, the 2019 State of the Firewall report reveals that cloud adoption is up significantly – 72 percent of respondents are managing some form of hybrid cloud environment today, compared to the 53% cited in the 2018 report.

The 2019 State of the Firewall report’s findings on the lack of automation being used across the industry highlight the need to deploy this missing solution. Finding the correct approach of security automation for each enterprise helps to improve real-time visibility and control over network security processes and to comply with regulations. 

The best approach to automation will enable an organization to minimize human error, increase efficiency and close the gap between driving transformation initiatives and maximizing security resources and agility.