What happens when you are in a serviced office and have no control over the network connectivity and Internet boundaries within the office location?
We often get asked this question and to be honest, the answer is really quite simple.
YOU MUST control your boundary to the Internet, therefore, if you cannot control the break-out point (the firewall on the network) you MUST CONTROL YOUR DEVICE FIREWALL.
(You should note: If possible, you can find out if the local firewall is CE compliant in its configuration, however, in that circumstance, we would always use the firewall on the device as it's within your control)
It is that simple - you move your control from the firewall on the break-out (the device that normally connects to the internet in the office) back onto the devices you control, your end-user devices.
This is exactly the same position you would be in if you have home workers whose network is now considered untrusted, you control your device's firewall.
The Cyber Essentials Questions/Answers:
- Do you have firewalls at your network boundaries? --> YES (now your device)
- Have you changed the default passwords on the Firewalls --> YES (now your device ones)
- Have you any open ports/services enabled on your Firewalls --> No (most likely, but it's your device now, so the chances are you do not need and should not have any open "inbound" ports enabled on your devices, so the answer is an easy "No")
If you are unsure of anything here, please do give us a call!