We've seen it happen. Maybe the person responsible for your company's IT and firewall management recently retired or left. No one else really ever had to pay much attention to this stuff, so what happens now?

Actually, the term "firewall" is dated. If you're doing it right, it's actually a Universal Threat Management (UTM) security appliance — including protections for your network like gateway anti-virus, intrusion prevention, botnet and GEO filtering, application filters for social media, as well as controls for where your users are browsing and spending their time.

That's quite a lot to keep up. Here are four good reasons to use a quality UTM management company.

1. Who's Paying Attention to What Your UTM Is Telling You?

Your UTM appliance generates logs of activity and alerts that provide information to enable you to take proactive steps to mitigate potential threats as they are happening.

If you don't have a seasoned professional monitoring and acting on this information, you are leaving your network more vulnerable to exploitation. Threats don't announce themselves with a phone call — they show up as subtle patterns in your logs, anomalies in traffic, and alerts that require someone with the expertise to recognize what they mean.

A managed UTM service means someone is watching, interpreting, and responding — not just collecting data that no one reads.

2. Who's Keeping Your UTM Updated?

Your security appliance manufacturer releases software and firmware updates — likely up to 4 or 5 times a year — to keep up to date with constantly evolving threats and to introduce new features.

Unless you have someone in tune with these releases and able to implement them, you aren't keeping your network current against potential loopholes that have been found and are being actively exploited. You also aren't getting the most value out of the licensing you've purchased.

Outdated firmware is one of the most common and preventable causes of network breaches. Attackers specifically target known vulnerabilities in older firmware versions because they know many organizations fall behind on updates.

3. Who Knows If Your UTM Is Configured Properly?

If your network security appliance wasn't configured and installed with best practices to ensure you are properly protected, you likely don't know it.

A UTM appliance management company works with network security appliances daily and they are experts at ensuring your UTM is optimally configured to the latest recommendations — including compliance with HIPAA and PCI standards. A quality UTM appliance management team advises on these standards and works with auditors to prove you are conforming as required.

Misconfiguration is surprisingly common, even in organizations that have had their UTM for years. Rules accumulate, exceptions get added, and over time the configuration drifts away from best practices. A managed service provider reviews and optimizes your configuration on an ongoing basis.

4. Who Knows How to Make Changes When You Need Them?

If you are trying to access a file download from an important client or vendor and find out it's being blocked by the network security appliance, you know how frustrating that can be. If no one is minding your UTM appliance, you are pretty stuck.

Furthermore, if you don't know who has the username and password to access your firewall, you are really up a creek. When a change is made, it's important to have a backup of your configuration before the change is made in case you need to roll it back. Configuration backups are an important routine for proper UTM appliance management and are often overlooked by self-maintainers.

The Bottom Line

Using a company that specializes in universal threat management keeps your gateway security continuously monitored and updated by a team of experts that work with security appliances like yours on a daily basis. They are able to get to the heart of any issue you face and resolve it quickly, keeping you secure and productive.

You'll have confidence your primary layer of network security is being updated and maintained by a team of trusted members — not dependent on just one inside source with limited expertise.

If you're not sure whether your UTM is being properly managed, contact OTM at 800-292-3537. We'll take a look and give you an honest assessment.