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Customers usually choose to go for two firewalls in high availability (HA) mode for several reasons, including:
Configuring firewalls for high availability (HA) involves setting up redundant firewall devices to ensure continuous protection and access control in the event of a failure. Here are some steps, in general, to configure firewalls for high availability:
However, the above steps may vary depending on the firewall devices & the makes being used, and the configuration requirements. It is always best to consult the manufacturer’s documentation for detailed instructions on configuring firewalls for high availability. But Before configuring firewalls for high availability (HA), it is crucial to ensure that certain prerequisites as mentioned below are in place.
It’s highly recommended that you have 2 Switches also while we configure 2 Firewall alliances on HA in order to prevent a single point of failure scenario since if one switch fails, the other switch can continue to provide connectivity to the firewall devices which ensures that there is no disruption to network traffic and that the firewall devices can continue to function even if one switch fails.
Here are a few steps to follow but it’s also important to consult the manufacturer’s documentation for specific instructions on configuring high availability for your particular switch model.
Now let’s look at two commonly used modes of HA:- “Active-Active” and “Active-Passive”, the differences between the two scenarios are as mentioned below:
In summary, active-/active HA allows both firewalls to actively process traffic simultaneously, while active-passive HA provides redundancy with one active firewall processing traffic and the other standby in case of failure. The configuration of both modes is quite different and it is essential to ensure that the configuration is done correctly to avoid issues such as traffic imbalance or failover failures. Firewall vendors often provide guidance and documentation on how to set up high availability for their devices, and it is recommended to follow these guidelines closely.
Implementing high availability (HA) for firewalls can provide significant benefits in terms of network uptime, reliability, and redundancy. However, there are also several challenges that organizations may face when implementing HA for their firewall infrastructure. Some of these challenges include:
Therefore Organizations should carefully consider the costs and complexity of HA, and ensure that they have the resources and expertise to manage and maintain the HA configuration properly. Additionally, regular testing and maintenance should be performed to identify and resolve any issues that may arise.
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Before understanding the countermeasures, let’s understand the sequence of events pertaining to the Cyber Attacks on All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a premier public medical research institution and a hospital based in New Delhi.
The cyber-attack on AIIMS was reported on 23rd November 2022, this lasted for more than 15 days & only by 6th December 2022,that the hospital was restored to normal, AIIMS confirmed that the trial runs of the e-Hospital server were successful, and most of the lost data had been retrieved. As a result of the incident, several patient care services, including registration, admission, billing, and discharge, appointment systems were inaccessible. Even the ‘e-Hospital,’ application system of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) was impacted by this incident & the hospital’s operations had to run manually to meet the immediate demands.
This ransomware attack could have corrupted huge data and medical records, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of patients and healthcare workers, and administrative records kept on blood donors, ambulances, vaccination, caregivers, employee login credentials, sensitive data, and medical records of VIPs. This kind of data is usually sold on the dark web by hackers.
The extent of the attack was so intense that multiple agencies like Delhi Police, the Centre’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), and even the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sprang into action & the findings as reported by various media sources are as below
More could be revealed in times to come, but organizations must take the following steps to proactively prepare against cyber-attacks:
By taking these steps, organizations can proactively prepare against cyber-attacks and reduce the risk of a successful attack. Additionally, in addition to the general cyber security measures, organizations can also implement specific network and data security measures to protect their IT infrastructure and sensitive data. Some of these measures include:
By implementing these network and data security measures, organizations can further strengthen their defence against cyber-attacks and protect sensitive data. It’s important to regularly review and update these measures to ensure that they remain effective in the face of changing cyber security threats.
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