The front door of your network, locked and watched.
The firewall is the only thing between your business and the open internet. If it's misconfigured, out of date, or unmonitored, the rest of your security stack doesn't matter much. We deploy, tune, and watch perimeter security as an ongoing service — not a one-time install.
What we typically find at the perimeter.
Firewall hasn't been updated in 2 years.
Vendor stopped issuing patches. Known vulnerabilities exposed to the internet.
Inbound rules from a former vendor.
Port forward open to an old contractor's IP. Has been for 4 years. Nobody noticed.
No SSL/TLS inspection.
Encrypted traffic — most of it — passes through unchecked. Malware downloaded over HTTPS just walks in.
Default admin password on the firewall.
Real. We've seen it more than once. The thing protecting your network is one Google search from compromise.
What we run.
- 01
Next-gen firewall deployment
Modern firewall with deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention, app awareness, SSL inspection where appropriate.
- 02
Rule base cleanup
Audit existing rules. Remove zombies (rules nobody uses). Tighten broad allows. Document what's left.
- 03
Threat intelligence feeds
Block known malicious IPs and domains in real time. Updated continuously by the vendor.
- 04
Intrusion prevention
Signatures detect and block known exploits in flight. Updated daily.
- 05
Logging + SIEM forwarding
Every connection logged. Forwarded to monitoring. Retained for the audit window.
- 06
Quarterly review
We re-walk the rules with you. New apps, new locations, new threats. Always current.
Three levels of firewall management.
| Set and forget | Vendor-managed | Senator standard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patched within 30 days | No | Sometimes | Yes |
| Rule base reviewed | Annually maybe | Quarterly | Monthly + on-change |
| Intrusion prevention signatures | Default | Tuned per vendor | Tuned per client |
| SSL inspection | Off | Off | On where appropriate |
| Logs forwarded to SIEM | No | Partial | Yes, full retention |
| Quarterly audit | No | No | Yes, written report |
Firewall platforms.
What we deliver.
From vendor advisory to deployment.
Average on a typical SMB firewall. The internet is hostile.
Across managed devices. Always.
Quarterly. Documented. With change log.
“Senator inherited our firewall from another MSP. First thing they did was a rule review. Found 23 stale rules including a wide-open port forward to an ex-employee's old desktop. Cleaned up in a week.”
Who needs this.
- Any firm with on-prem assets exposed to the internet.
- Anyone whose cyber insurance asks 'when was your firewall last patched?'
- Firms with cardholder data (PCI-DSS requires this).
- Multi-site firms where each office has its own perimeter to manage.
Q01Can you work with our existing firewall?
Can you work with our existing firewall?
Most current models from Fortinet, Palo Alto, Cisco, Meraki — yes. Older or end-of-life devices we replace as part of onboarding.
Q02Won't SSL inspection break things?
Won't SSL inspection break things?
Some apps don't tolerate it. We selectively enable inspection per traffic type and exclude things like banking sites. Tuned, not all-or-nothing.
Q03What about VPN access for remote staff?
What about VPN access for remote staff?
Modern recommendation is zero-trust remote access (Cloudflare, Zscaler) instead of traditional VPN. We deploy either depending on your situation.
Q04Do you respond to firewall alerts at 3 a.m.?
Do you respond to firewall alerts at 3 a.m.?
Yes — if you're on a managed plan with SOC monitoring. Otherwise alerts queue for business-hours review.
Free firewall audit.
Read-only access for 7 days. We audit your rule base, your patching, your logging, and present a written report on what we found.