Supplier Profile: Why We Recommend SonicWall Products

As experts in cybersecurity, we highly recommend SonicWall and their ever-expanding suite of enterprise-level network security products.

Regardless of what your company does, how you operate, and your relationship with IT, chances are there’s a SonicWall product out there that will provide enviable protection for your entire network.

But who are SonicWall? What products do they offer? And why do our boffins rate them so highly? Let’s find out.

[Side note: If you’re a WatchGuard user – read our WatchGuard Supplier Profile]

Who are SonicWall?

SonicWall are a well-respected provider of network security solutions, currently headquartered in Silicon Valley.

The firm was initially founded in 1991 as Sonic Systems, developing network hardware for Apple PCs. In the late 90s, the company released a dedicated firewall and VPN solution for small businesses called SonicWALL.

As sales of their network security products skyrocketed, they ended the Apple hardware side of the business to focus on network security exclusively. In 1999, the company changed its name to SonicWall Inc.

Throughout the noughties, SonicWall Inc. went from strength to strength through numerous mergers and acquisitions, and was a subdivision of Dell Computers from 2012 to 2016.

The company has developed into a network security powerhouse, employing around 1,600 people as of April 2020.

Their product range has grown in leaps and bounds since their initial firewall/VPN offering, now providing a vast range of up-to-the-minute IT security solutions to combat the increasingly complex cyber threat landscape.

All in all, SonicWall products provide reliable comprehensive IT security and control to companies of all kinds around the world.

What Products Do SonicWall Provide?

SonicWall’s range is far-reaching, but can be boiled down to the following basic categories:

Firewalls

SonicWall provide numerous industry-leading firewall solutions, with something in their catalogue to suit numerous different needs and use cases. Regardless of company size, function, or distribution, SonicWall will likely have a firewall to keep your whole team safe online.

Recent SonicWall firewall solutions are seamlessly compatible with their top-notch sandboxing, content filtering, and intrusion prevention services.

Secure Wireless Access Points

The company’s SonicWave range of secure Wi-Fi access point hardware is designed to prevent wireless snooping, data theft, and man-in-the-middle attacks. These controls are all managed through a convenient cloud-based interface, enabling fast, secure, and reliable wireless network access throughout your premises.

Cloud Firewall Options

An ever-increasing number of companies rely on public cloud services like Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft Azure. With SonicWall’s powerful cloud firewall solutions, you can enjoy top notch security across all of your cloud environments and SaaS systems.

Content Filtering

If many of your team work from home or spend a lot of time on the road, they’ll naturally spend time on networks that aren’t under your direct control.

In order to keep your IT estate secure when away from the confines of your network, you’ll naturally need the ability to block unproductive, objectionable, or non-secure content.

SonicWall’s Content Filtering Client (CFC) references SonicWall’s massive cloud-based database of URLs to help your administrators identify and filter out content you’d rather your workforce avoid.

VPNs and Remote Access Security

Remote working has tons of benefits to morale, but can come with some hefty cyber security downsides. However, with a little help from SonicWall’s standalone remote access security and VPN products, companies needn’t put themselves at risk when providing remote working options.

Why Do Just Firewalls Recommend SonicWall

So, it’s time for the million-dollar question – why do the team at Just Firewalls endorse SonicWall’s products?

Let’s shine a light on some of our favourite SonicWall features.

More Than Mere Hardware: Advanced Gateway Security Suite

We feel that SonicWall really goes above and beyond with their Advanced Gateway Security Suite (AGSS). It’s a suite of tools that are absolutely invaluable if you have one of their TZ, NSa, NSsp, NSv, or SuperMassive firewalls.

AGSS is a is a comprehensive network security package that includes subscriptions to numerous SonicWall network security tools, including:

● Gateway antivirus and anti-spyware tools
● A cutting-edge Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
● Content filtering and policy enforcement functions
● Cloud-enriched sandboxing through the Capture ATP platform

Each of these tools are invaluable on their own, but together they form a formidable suite of protection.

We feel that IPS systems are particularly important; important enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with antivirus and firewall solutions. IPS tools take a top-down view of your network’s traffic, scanning in-motion traffic for known vulnerabilities, as well as identifying and potentially stopping suspicious traffic patterns.

Sandboxing tools are also well worth the investment. A lot of online threat detection is quite reactive; a threat is found, a solution is engineered, and that solution is deployed.

However, what happens to those threats that stay under the radar, or those that don’t have a fix yet? These are called zero-day threats.

Sandboxing tools test suspicious files out in a separate PC-like environment to ensure that they’re safe – relying on their own findings rather than referencing databases of known threats.

SonicWall’s sandboxing tool, Capture ATP, opens each unknown inbound file in multiple isolated, virtual environments to see if the files do anything unexpected. And because it’s linked to a global database of known files, it can immediately approve or deny files that have already been tested elsewhere.

Reassembly-Free, Stream-Based Deep Packet Inspection

We’ve discussed deep packet inspection previously on the blog – it’s a funky firewall feature that continually scans all incoming data packets in depth, reassembles what it can of the files being downloaded, and inspects that for threats. SonicWall goes one step further – all recent-generation SonicWall firewalls feature Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI).

Older DPI systems are continually auditing packets, trying to put them together, and assessing their security all at once. At times of heavy system load, it’s common for some files to bypass scanning. Some DPI systems also have limits on file sizes, so larger files may not be checked at all.

RFDPI, however, doesn’t memorise or reassemble anything, enabling for a deeper scan, a quicker result, and a higher throughput. Instead, it scans a continuous stream of traffic coming in, meaning there are no limits on file sizes or number of users under its protection at any given time.

Granular Web Application Firewalling Control

Browser-based web applications, like SaaS solutions or social media platforms, are invaluable to many businesses, though they also come with their own security risks. Because they’re constantly talking to the open internet, cybercriminals can hijack this connection and potentially interfere with traffic, steal data, or infiltrate the network.

SonicWall’s SMA100 Series Web Application Firewall (WAF) uses threat data collected from global cybersecurity databases to dynamically identify and stop incoming potential web application attacks, including SQL injections, unauthorised access, and DoS attempts. SMA100 also provides in-depth historical analytics about inbound threats and hacking attempts.

Protection In and Out of the Office

SonicWall recognise that work doesn’t just get done behind the safety of an on-premises firewall. More and more organisations are implementing remote working policies, and personnel are increasingly relying on their own “BYOD” devices for work projects.

Teams may even work totally remotely across continents! As networks are moving toward more mobile, hybrid infrastructures, IT security platforms need to keep up.

SonicWall’s Secure Mobile Access (SMA) provides authenticated users with a secure, seamless link in to network resources or cloud functions, regardless of what network they’re connected to. It also features granular policy control functions and comprehensive reporting functions.

Honourable Mention: SonicWall’s Annual Cyber Threat Report

Every year, we always keep an eye out for SonicWall’s annual Cyber Threat Report. It’s an easy to read summary of the previous year’s cybercrime data, including trends, emerging risks, and advancements in network security technology. Why not grab your copy of 2020’s report here?

Ready to find out what SonicWall products can bring to your business? Let us pair you with the ideal solution to your needs!

Pick up the phone and speak to our friendly team on 0808 1644 414.

Just looking? Browse our entire SonicWall range here!