advice requested for security appliance

[ThePiston]

Need some advice on how to go about securing this small medical office. Right now we use default FIOS modem along with a separate wireless unit (turned off the wireless from Actiontec modem/router that came with FIOS).

I've done some research and have looked at the Sonicwall TZ 205W which has the throughput at Full DPI which would not slow us down considerably. It would also take the place of the wireless switch we use now.

Another option would be to simply keep the setup I have now and use a pass-through appliance to simply scan all traffic.

We have 10 employees working from about 10 PCs. Looking for an appliance that will scan all traffic as well as have good intrusion blocking.

Should I set up the FIOS router as a bridge and get the Sonicwall with TotalSecure?

 

[Genx87]

What is your speed at the branch location? The 205w has a full DPI throughput of 40Mbps. If your line is higher than 40Mbps the router will be the limitation. We have an older TZ200. With all the security features enabled on a 50Mbps line we hit ~15Mbps. The processor is maxed at 100%.

 

[ThePiston]

our FIOS speed is 50/50 so the 40 should be enough if the specs are accurate. The price increase to go to a higher level machine doesn't justify that small increase for us. Our internal network speed is gigabit though. The next one up is the 215W which best price with 1 yr TotalSecure is about $820. The DPI of the 215W is 60Mbps which would cover it and may be the way to go.

 

[Genx87]

One thing to consider is what will your requirements at that branch location be in 3-5 years? If you need more than 40Mbps over that time period. This device wont get it done. Unless you start turning off\relaxing some of the security services.

 

[inachu]

From experiences in local small business I have seen on average the first infection point is the front desk secretaries pc.

Just make sure there are policies in place that nothing of major impact on that pc can be done that will not disrupt your business. A good idea would be to have an out of the way office room that nobody ever uses or is allowed in and the secretary RDP's into that pc for only work purposes for data transfer/customer lookup. Fortinet is pretty good for network firewall stuff as well.

 

[John Connor]

Read the wiki, read the forums, buy a cheap Dell server or computer that works with Untangole. https://www.untangle.com/

They sell appliances too, but they're costly.

 

[ThePiston]

you mean this?
https://www.untangle.com/store/ngfw-free.html

 

[John Connor]

Yes. Like I said read their wiki and make sure the hardware you buy (server or computer) is compatible.

 

[ThePiston]

does free software like that come with a good av, anti-spam, anti-everything?

 

[John Connor]

It has Clamwin installed in the firewall so all trafffic goes through the anti-virus. But you still need an anti-virus on the computer to prevent external malware from USB, CD, etc. Read the wiki on their site and their forums. Read as much as you can!

http://forums.untangle.com/

http://wiki.untangle.com/index.php/Main_Page

 

[John Connor]

I wrote on my blog about malware getting past HIPS. http://blog.systechforum.net/?p=23