What is WAN?

WAN stands for Wide Area Network. It is a computer network that connects smaller networks over long distances. WANs are not tied to a specific location, and they allow localized networks to communicate with one another across great distances. WANs can facilitate communication, the sharing of information, and much more between devices from around the world through a WAN provider. Small businesses should use WAN technology because it enables them to totally centralize their company's IT infrastructure. By linking multiple sites together, a WAN can take advantage of its size to enable communication across large distances. WAN technology can be used to access your business's network resources remotely. A company could enable its employees to access its LAN network from their home internet, for example. Although setting up a WAN can be an expensive process, it can save your business headaches from working with a LAN.

The steps for WAN implementation include contacting a service provider, acquiring a router and connecting the WAN link to it, and connecting the network switch to your router. To build a WAN, you need a contract with a service provider and your own networking equipment, such as routers and switches. You can contact a service provider in your area to see what types of WAN services are offered. Common services are T1 and Frame Relay. Business-class DSL and cable services may also be offered in your area. You can also consider business-grade switches and routers. Consumer or home-networking products will not deliver the reliable communications your small business needs or keep pace as your business grows. You can invest in a network designed to grow over time.

WAN Security Best Practices:

• Virtual private networks (VPNs) can be used to connect a single computer or a group of computers to a private network across a public network while keeping a secure connection.
• Software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WAN) can be used as a software overlay that can help improve WAN security.
• Managing mobile devices can help improve WAN security.
• Keeping everything updated can help improve WAN security.
• A multi-layered defense in-depth approach is the best way to approach SD-WAN security. There are simply too many types of threats and attack vectors for a single security “answer” to do any good. You assume some defenses won't work all the time and have additional layers of defense at the ready.
• Several vendors have begun to offer advanced firewall features embedded into their SD-WAN appliances. However, they're not integrated: You must still manage separate security and networking domains, which hampers IT visibility and control.
• Organizations must add security inspection and filtering to protect against threats targeting SD-WAN traffic.

WAN Security Bad Practices:

• Choosing a solution that cannot inspect traffic at network speeds, defend against a wide range of external threats, or isolate and disarm live threats, will only yield bad results.
• Leveraging firewall rules to manage access control policies can lead to a very strong security perimeter initially, but over time, the perimeter decays.
• WLAN cybersecurity threats can lead to data loss, malware infections, DDoS attacks and other detrimental scenarios.