10 Powerful Managed Firewalls to Protect Your Cloud Infrastructure

Hi there! If you‘re like most organizations today, you‘ve likely started moving some of your critical IT infrastructure to the cloud. The benefits of cloud computing – scalability, cost savings, faster deployment times – are simply too good to pass up!

But here‘s the thing: as you migrate those workloads, it‘s absolutely essential to properly secure your cloud environments. After all, your data is your lifeblood. If it falls into the wrong hands, you could face serious regulatory and reputational damages.

This is where a cloud-based firewall comes in!

Unlike old-school firewall appliances that are complex and expensive, a managed cloud firewall gives you an easy, cost-effective way to put robust protection around your cloud workloads.

In this guide, I‘ll walk you through the top 10 managed firewall options perfect for securing your public, private, and hybrid cloud infrastructures. I‘ll also share key criteria to evaluate when choosing the right solution for your organization.

Let‘s get started!

What is a Managed Cloud Firewall?

Simply put, a managed cloud firewall is a network security service provided by a vendor to protect your cloud-based resources.

The firewall software runs on the vendor‘s cloud infrastructure, while you control the configurations, policies, and rules through a web-based dashboard or API.

Some key advantages over firewall appliances:

• Lower cost – No need to purchase expensive hardware and software licenses. Pay only for what you use.

• Highly scalable – Easily scale firewall capacity on demand to match your cloud workloads.

• Easy to manage – Manage through a simple web UI rather than complex on-prem firewalls.

• Always up-to-date – Firewall rules and protections are kept current by the vendor.

• More visibility – Cloud firewalls give you better insights into traffic and threats.

According to MarketsandMarkets, the cloud firewall market is projected to grow from $1.1 billion in 2020 to over $4.7 billion by 2026. This rapid growth demonstrates the demand as organizations shift security to the cloud.

Now let‘s explore 10 leading options for managed cloud firewall services.

Top 10 Managed Cloud Firewalls

1. AWS Shield – Best for DDoS Protection

If your infrastructure is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS Shield should be your go-to for DDoS protection.

AWS Shield comes in two versions:

• Standard (free): Automatic always-on detection and mitigation against most common DDoS attacks like SYN/UDP floods, reflection attacks, and more. Minimizes application downtime and latency.

• Advanced ($3,000/month): Expanded DDoS protection and 24/7 access to the AWS DDoS response team for advanced threat monitoring and real-time insights during an attack.

AWS Shield is enabled by default on AWS services like Elastic Load Balancing, CloudFront, Route 53, and Elastic IP addresses. It leverages the same DDoS mitigation technologies used by Amazon to protect its own infrastructure.

Over a third of DDoS attacks target cloud-based applications and resources according to Kaspersky, so AWS Shield is a must for security and availability.

2. Microsoft Azure Firewall – Best for Azure Virtual Networks

If your workloads run on Microsoft‘s cloud, Azure Firewall is designed to protect your Azure Virtual Network resources.

As a stateful firewall managed by Microsoft, it lets you:

• Filter inbound and outbound traffic by source/destination IP, port, and protocol

• Integrate with other Azure security services like Application Gateway

• Block malicious IP addresses and domains using Threat Intelligence

• View traffic analytics and logs

• Enable high availability with unlimited cloud scalability

• Support inbound SNAT and outbound DNAT rules

Azure Firewall pricing is based on hourly rates and data processed, making costs predictable. It‘s a great option for segmenting Azure deployments into distinct security zones.

3. Google Cloud Armor – Best Web Application Firewall

If you need to protect internet-facing applications and infrastructure, Google Cloud Armor combines a robust web application firewall (WAF) with managed DDoS protection.

It leverages Google‘s infrastructure to automatically scale security defenses. Key capabilities:

• Detect and mitigate Layer 3-4 DDoS attacks like ICMP floods, UDP floods, etc.

• OWASP Top 10 protections against threats like SQLi, XSS, RCE, etc.

• Customizable rules and policies based on paths, source IPs, geolocation, etc.

• Integrated logging and traffic analytics

• Global deployment across Google‘s edge network in 200+ locations

According to Imperva, ~70% of all web traffic serves malicious intent. So whether you host websites, APIs, or applications in Google Cloud, Cloud Armor is a must. Pricing starts at $1.25 per protected resource per month.

4. Palo Alto VM-Series Firewall – Best NGFW

If you need robust positive security controls like intrusion prevention, application filtering, and more, Palo Alto Networks‘ VM-Series firewall brings industry-leading next-generation capabilities to the cloud.

As a virtualized solution, VM-Series can secure traffic between workloads in public clouds like AWS, Azure, and GCP as well as private clouds.

Advanced protection features include:

• App-ID and Content-ID to identify + control thousands of apps and file types

• IPS, antivirus, URL filtering, and DNS security

• WildFire sandboxing to detect zero-day malware

• TLS decryption to inspect encrypted traffic

• Machine learning-based protections

Palo Alto is routinely named a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for NGFWs. So if you need top-shelf network protections, VM-Series is a fantastic choice.

5. Barracuda CloudGen Firewall – Best for Hybrid Environments

Barracuda Networks provides a broad platform securing hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Their CloudGen Firewall can be deployed as both a virtual appliance and physical hardware managed centrally in the cloud.

It leverages Barracuda‘s Advanced Threat Protection featuring sandboxing and AI to identify sophisticated malware and zero-day attacks in cloud traffic.

Other capabilities include:

• Next-generation IPS tuned for cloud threats
• Granular application and user controls
• URL filtering and web security
• Built-in web application firewall (WAF)
• Vulnerability scanning
• Encrypted VPN connectivity
• Cloud-based centralized management

If you operate a complex hybrid infrastructure, CloudGen Firewall brings strong consolidation and consistency of policy across on-prem and cloud.

6. Cisco Meraki MX Firewalls – Best for Cloud-Managed SD-WAN

Cisco Meraki takes a unique approach, combining SD-WAN, next-gen security, and cloud-based management into an all-in-one solution.

The Meraki MX firewall line is designed for branch offices and mid-sized campuses. Capabilities include:

• Granular visibility and control over 4,000+ applications

• Content filtering using machine learning to block malicious sites

• IPS, antivirus, and advanced malware analysis

• Automatic VPN provisioning site-to-site or remote access

• Traffic shaping and application bandwidth limiting

• Integrated wireless controller

All configurations, monitoring, and reporting are managed via Cisco‘s Meraki cloud dashboard providing simplicity and flexibility. Licensing starts at $450/year for small sites.

7. Sophos XG Firewall – Best All-In-One Cloud Security

Sophos XG Firewall bundles an easy-to-use next-generation firewall optimized for the cloud together with advanced protections like sandboxing, email security, web filtering, and more.

It provides a unified set of capabilities managed from the Sophos Central cloud-based console:

• Deep learning AI to detect never-before-seen malware strains

• Automatic active/active high availability with near-zero downtime

• Identify and control over 900 applications with full Layer 7 data

• Web application firewall to secure servers against OWASP Top 10 threats

• URL filtering and remote worker web protection

• Cloud-powered sandboxing and anti-exploit technology

Available as hardware, virtual appliance, and a cloud version, Sophos XG is a great single-vendor solution for organizations that value simplicity. Pricing starts at $45/month for 100 users.

8. Check Point CloudGuard IaaS – Best Public Cloud Security

Check Point CloudGuard IaaS continuously secures assets across public cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

It unifies best-of-breed protections including:

• CloudGuard AppSec to protect web apps and APIs

• CloudGuard Network Security with IDS/IPS, anti-bot, antivirus

• CloudGuard Posture Management for cloud compliance

• CloudGuard Edge for SaaS application security

• CloudGuard Log.ic for data-driven analytics

According to Check Point‘s 2021 Cloud Security Report, 63% of organizations suffered a cloud security incident over the past year. So if you extensively use public clouds, CloudGuard is purpose-built to protect those environments.

9. Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall – Best for Flexible Deployment

Fortinet‘s FortiGate firewalls are among the most widely-used next-generation firewalls on the market. The FortiGate VM appliance provides the same capabilities for cloud environments and on-prem deployments.

Key features:

• IPS, application control, antivirus, botnet blocking

• High-performance TLS inspection (included with premium support)

• Integration with Fortinet‘s FortiSandbox cloud sandbox service

• Cloud-native logging and reporting

• Automation integrations for Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes

• Options for unlimited firewall management and support

Fortinet stands out with highly flexible options to purchase perpetual or subscription licenses and bundle premium services. Overall an enterprise-grade modular option.

10. CrowdStrike Falcon Horizon – Best for Workload Security

CrowdStrike takes a workload-centric approach to cloud security, integrating next-gen endpoint detection and response (EDR) with firewall management and compliance visibility.

Falcon Horizon provides:

• Microsegmentation to minimize lateral movement between workloads

• Real-time visualization into vulnerabilities

• Runtime threat protection for cloud and container workloads

• Intelligent correlation of alerts to focus response

• Compliance assurance through system telemetry

If you‘re using containers, serverless, or need workload-focused visibility, Falcon Horizon is purpose-built for those use cases. Pricing starts at $15/workload instance per month.

5 Key Criteria for Evaluation

As you evaluate cloud firewall options, here are 5 key criteria to consider:

1. Deployment flexibility – Does the firewall support leading public clouds like AWS, Azure, GCP as well as private cloud and on-prem deployments? The more flexible, the better.

2. Protection level – Does it provide modern threat prevention like IPS, sandboxing, bot defense? Prioritize advanced protections.

3. Integration & automation – What native integrations exist for your particular cloud platform? API and SDK options for infrastructure-as-code?

4. Reporting & analytics – Does the firewall give you adequate visibility into security events, compliance, traffic patterns, and threats? Strong analytics capabilities are useful.

5. Support options – Evaluate available tiers of customer support, response times, training resources, and professional services.

Doing thorough due diligence across these criteria will help you select the ideal managed firewall aligned to your cloud infrastructure strategy and security priorities.

Conclusion

Migrating your applications and data to the cloud is a smart move – just be sure to protect those assets!

A managed cloud firewall offers huge advantages over traditional firewall appliances in cost, agility, and ease of use. Leading solutions from AWS, Microsoft, Cisco, Palo Alto, and other vendors provide rock-solid security tailored for cloud environments.

Evaluate your deployment models, integration needs, and advanced protection requirements. And don‘t forget to assess the strength of support and services offered. With the right firewall in place, you can confidently accelerate your cloud adoption and sleep better at night knowing your infrastructure is secure.

Hope this overview gives you a headstart on finding the ideal managed firewall option for your organization! Let me know if you have any other questions.