Introduction to real-time Policy Analyzer and Optimizer

The real-time Policy Analyzer and Optimizer feature enhances access control rule management by providing immediate, real-time feedback on potential rule conflicts during configuration. Traditionally, users would add or modify access control rules without visibility into whether these new rules are shadowed or are made redundant by the existing rules in the access control policy.

While the on-demand Policy Analyzer and Optimizer within Security Cloud Control post-deployment analysis, the new real-time anomaly detection capability integrates proactive anomaly detection directly into the rule creation and editing workflow. This offers instant insights even as users create or update rules in Cloud-Delivered Firewall Management Center.

Benefits of real-time Policy Analyzer and Optimizer

The real-time Policy Analyzer and Optimizer feature addresses the common challenge of undetected rule anomalies, such as shadowing or redundancy, prior to deployment. These anomalies result in inefficient, cluttered rule sets having unnecessary or duplicate entries. By identifying conflicts even as rules are being added or modified, real-time anomaly detection helps administrators to:

  • Reduce rules set complexity: Streamlines policies by highlighting and enabling the removal of redundant or shadowed rules.

  • Improve efficiency: Eliminates the need for time-consuming post-deployment analysis, saving effort and accelerating policy deployment.

  • Maintain policy integrity: Ensures that potential conflicts are identified and presented to users before they impact network security or performance.