Software Firewalls For Dummies^®, Palo Alto Networks Special Edition

As more enterprises adopt or expand their cloud strategies, they must address a fundamental security dilemma: Physical next-generation firewalls are not cloud-friendly, and basic cloud service provider (CSP) firewalls are not effective against modern cybersecurity attacks. Network firewalls have traditionally been configured on hardware that is specifically designed to handle the high throughput and intense processing requirements of enterprise firewalls  — particularly next-generation firewalls.

Fortunately, technology has evolved, and the key to innovation today lies in software. Practically everything today is “software-defined,” and, in the words of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (among others), “every company is now a software company.” Software firewalls have emerged as an optimal solution for a variety of cloud and virtualized use cases including private clouds, software-defined networks (SDNs), multi-cloud, hybrid, edge, containers, and 5G.