We are seeking a skilled and detail-oriented Palo Alto Firewall Audit and Remediation Engineer to join our team for a contract assignment.
This role involves conducting comprehensive security audits, identifying vulnerabilities, and implementing best practices to secure our network infrastructure. The ideal candidate will have in-depth knowledge of Palo Alto firewalls, experience with firewall rulesets and policies, and expertise in network security auditing and compliance.
Key Responsibilities:
- Firewall Audits: Conduct detailed audits of Palo Alto firewall and Cisco ASA configurations, rulesets, policies, and logs to identify misconfigurations, outdated rules, and potential security vulnerabilities.
- Risk Assessment: Analyze firewall settings and configurations to assess potential security risks and ensure compliance with organizational and regulatory standards.
- Remediation Planning and Execution: Develop and implement remediation plans to address identified vulnerabilities, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations.
- Policy Optimization: Review and optimize firewall rules and access policies for enhanced security posture and performance, including rule consolidation, reordering, and removal of redundant or obsolete rules.
- Documentation and Reporting: Create comprehensive audit reports, including remediation recommendations, for presentation to management and stakeholders.
- Compliance and Best Practices: Ensure firewall configurations align with industry best practices (such as CIS benchmarks) and relevant regulatory compliance requirements.
- Collaboration: Work closely with IT, cybersecurity, and network engineering teams to integrate firewall changes and enhancements, while minimizing impact on network performance.
- Monitoring and Logging: Configure and manage logging, monitoring, and alerting on Palo Alto firewalls to support continuous security monitoring.
Qualifications:
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
- Experience: Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in network security, with a specific focus on firewall management, auditing, and remediation.
- Technical Expertise:
- Strong expertise with Palo Alto Networks and Cisco ASA firewall technologies (certification such as PCNSE is preferred).
- Deep understanding of firewall rulesets, NAT, VPN, SSL decryption, and policy-based rules.
- Familiarity with tools for firewall analysis and audit, such as Tufin, AlgoSec, FireMon, or Palo Alto’s own tools (Panorama).
- Knowledge of network protocols, OSI layers, and TCP/IP model.
- Soft Skills:
- Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to convey complex technical issues to non-technical stakeholders.
- Attention to detail, with a commitment to accuracy and thoroughness in audit and remediation processes.
- Certifications (Preferred):
- Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE)
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
- Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
