*By Marcos Eurico
Cybersecurity has never been as mandatory for companies in all sectors as it is today. The current dynamic global scenario requires organizations to implement digital solutions to protect their digital assets, which in the age of technology, are their most valuable assets. In this context, customer and consumer information, which is 100% digitized, has become a critical asset to be protected. Since the General Law on the Protection of Personal Data (LGPD) came into effect four years ago, protecting citizens' information in Brazil has also become a legal priority. The LGPD established a series of rules and requirements that must be met, providing for significant penalties, including financial ones, if they are not met. For example, according to this law, data must have a purpose, adequacy, transparency and risk prevention to ensure that its use is made for legitimate and clear purposes for those who provide it, with only what is relevant to the business being collected and complete clarity about how it is treated.
Several other cybersecurity regulations are also already in force with guidelines imposed by sector-specific agencies in the country, such as the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) for telecommunications (in particular Resolution No. 740/2020) and the Central Bank for the financial sector (in particular Resolution No. 4,893/2021). This movement makes even clearer the need and importance of establishing a cybersecurity ecosystem that guarantees the protection of data collected and used by organizations. With the growing trend of other countries also adopting legal approaches to cybersecurity, the demand for efficient protection will continue to intensify globally.
To adapt to this increasingly regulated ecosystem and mitigate system and network intrusions, prevent unauthorized access, theft, loss or even destruction of data, it is necessary to create an environment that involves technologies, culture and internal security policies in companies. This makes it much more feasible to protect information from cyber risks. On the technological side, it is necessary to adopt robust and proven solutions to keep up with the evolution of hacker attacks, which are constantly changing. Given this scenario, one technology remains fundamental to any effective security strategy: the Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW).
NGFWs play a central role in this complex cybersecurity ecosystem and in regulatory compliance. This technology integrates advanced controls and protections for users, data, applications and networks into a single platform, in addition to allowing adaptation to new threats and integration with other services, always staying up to date. Modern NGFWs contain specific functionality for preventing data loss (theft). In addition, with deep inspection of encrypted packets and traffic, the NGFW also allows the identification and even blocking of advanced attacks, malicious activities, hidden threats, specific applications and data types. In addition, it can use advanced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning resources to recognize attack patterns and trigger the necessary functions to contain the actions of criminals in the digital environment.
Furthermore, many of the guidelines that have been implemented over the years require organizations to keep records and conduct audits to demonstrate compliance with the actions taken. Next-Generation Firewall also supports companies in this regard. The technology creates incident logs with detailed information about each event, such as date and time, type and description of the attack. In addition to helping to comply with cybersecurity rules, this feature increases the company's visibility into the activities occurring in its digital environment, enabling effective measures to identify and correct problems.
Another important feature of NGFW is managing user access to web resources. The technology offers advanced and rigorous controls to block unwanted access and suspicious activity on systems. This action prevents risky behavior on untrustworthy websites and portals, which are often the gateway for digital intrusions into company systems. All of these benefits support the construction of more effective cybersecurity policies in organizations.
As regulations evolve and technologies improve, there is a need for more secure and resilient environments where innovation can flourish without compromising data integrity and privacy. As a result, the increasing complexity and sophistication of cyber threats highlights the urgent need to invest in advanced technologies that keep pace with today’s changing world, such as the Next-Generation Firewall. This fosters the creation of a culture of proactive and adaptive digital protection, enabling businesses to evolve. Continued investment in advanced solutions and regulatory compliance will remain essential to protect critical infrastructure and ensure a highly digitized future with security and reliability for business success.
*Marcos Eurico, Support Director at Blockbit
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
EN 
PT 
