[NA]Firewall services[NA]

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
20,769
Location
west Texas
Display Name
Display name:
Dave Taylor
Small business
Server & 4-5 workstations
Credit card chip reader
Wifi throughout; password protected.
Bitdefender installed on all.
SonicWall Firewall
I am told we need a$650/3yr service to maintain firewall security through SonicWall.
Mainly as a requirement for the credit card processor.

Opinions as to the true need, or price?
 
If that's what your processor requires, then unfortunately, you really don't have much choice in the matter. I haven't dealt with them in years, but the last time I did, they seemed on the ball.

Rich
 
Is it Belt and Suspenders?
(not that excessiveness in the area of security is a bad thing)
Oh well, gives us two companies to blame if the credit card numbers get out or ransomware in!
 
SonicWall, properly configured, is pretty solid.

If you ever need it, once, you'll have paid for it 100 times over.

But see what Rich suggests - I trust his counsel.
 
Is the $650 just for annual support (phone support and hardware replacement) or are you subscribing to any add-on services, such as malware protection or web filtering? PCI compliance can be a pain and a bit arbitrary (when it comes to small business compliance). I know for some hospitality businesses, such as hotels, they have cracked down and require separate networks and centralized logging for the credit card stuff.
 
If your firewall croaks you’re down for a while. It’s nice to have somebody to call...
 
John221us said:
Is the $650 just for
Click to expand...

Description
Image-Placeholder1x1.png
SonicWall Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite Bundle - SonicWALL TZ300 Network Security Firewall - Subscription License 1 Appliance - 3 Year License Validation Period

looks like software only.
not support or hardware protection.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Description
Image-Placeholder1x1.png
SonicWall Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite Bundle - SonicWALL TZ300 Network Security Firewall - Subscription License 1 Appliance - 3 Year License Validation Period

looks like software only.
not support or hardware protection.
Click to expand...
Yes, it is the latter one I mentioned. Content filtering = web filtering (you block different types of sites, like porn or YouTube), but you need to turn it on. The anti malware stuff kicks if someone clicks on a bad link or something like that. It is actually a good idea to have this.

SonicWALL Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite includes the following:

  • Gateway Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Intrusion Prevention and Application Intelligence and Control1 Service subscription
  • Content Filtering Service subscription
  • 24x7 Support subscription
 
John221us said:
Is the $650 just for annual support (phone support and hardware replacement) or are you subscribing to any add-on services, such as malware protection or web filtering? PCI compliance can be a pain and a bit arbitrary (when it comes to small business compliance). I know for some hospitality businesses, such as hotels, they have cracked down and require separate networks and centralized logging for the credit card stuff.
Click to expand...

Virus scanning, firewall blocklist updates, phishing protection, etc. Most if it is stuff available from other sources if one wants to configure a firewall themselves. But having them do it is easier.

I just have my doubts about whether it's worth the money, considering that all they're really doing is updating master configurations, not sitting there manually updating every device. But I guess if you don't want to do it yourself it is.

Rich
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Is it Belt and Suspenders?
(not that excessiveness in the area of security is a bad thing)
Oh well, gives us two companies to blame if the credit card numbers get out or ransomware in!
Click to expand...

What other security appliance are you using? If you're referring to having both SonicWall and BitDefender, both the gateway firewall and machine-level antivirus are necessary.

Rich
 
"TZ300" is a box that plugs into your network.

You want to be really entertained, Sonicwall can set up so you can review what Internet content your employees have been looking at, and how much time they have spent in so-doing. Gets fun.
 
RJM62 said:
What other security appliance are you using?
Click to expand...

I have no idea what the definition of an appliance is so cannot answer. Is it the same as a device? A peripheral? The terminology is out of my league.
I listed in post 1 my general setup if that helps.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I have no idea what the definition of an appliance is so cannot answer. Is it the same as a device? A peripheral? The terminology is out of my league.
I listed in post 1 my general setup if that helps.
Click to expand...

A thingie, a box. Usually, you'll have an "appliance" with two Ethernet ports - one in (from the great unwashed Internet), one out (to your network), and the box has hardware (it's essentially another computer) and software to manage the traffic into your network, watch for harmful content and stop it. https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=sonicwall tz300&Submit=ENE
 
SonicWall is saying the price includes support and hardware.
Checking with cc processor on need.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
SonicWall is saying the price includes support and hardware.
Checking with cc processor on need.
Click to expand...

No offense intended, but if you're not a tech maven (as you claim), you probably should renew it. There's no doubt that they're good devices when managed properly, and the amount of malicious activity going on out there is ponderous.

Although I've been a member of AbuseIPDB since 2015, I only started reporting all the various hack attempts against my servers about two or three weeks ago. Since then, I've reported more than 42,000 incidents.

https://www.abuseipdb.com/user/5688

And mind you, those numbers don't include self-managed client sites that don't have the honeypots installed.

Your network isn't as exposed because you're not running a Web server. But a lot of these attacks are by robots banging IP addresses without regard for what they're assigned to. So you still need a firewall. If your contract includes hardware coverage as well as the virus scanning, spam scanning, and firewall updates, you may as well keep the one you have.

Rich
 
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That’s what I need to hear.
There are so many ‘opportunities’ out there to buy stuff that is not needed, stuff which no one else finds necessary.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
That’s what I need to hear.
There are so many ‘opportunities’ out there to buy stuff that is not needed, stuff which no one else finds necessary.
Click to expand...

It's always necessary to have a firewall. It's not always necessary to pay for someone to manage it. But if you have a business to run and you don't have full-time IT geeks to do it that stuff for you, you may as well pay the subscription. It's one less thing to worry about.

Rich
 
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