Checkpoint CloudGuard Azure Deployment Guide for Scalable Security

To set up a scalable security solution on Azure, you'll want to follow Checkpoint CloudGuard's Azure deployment guide. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of deploying a robust security solution that meets your business needs.

First, you'll need to create a Checkpoint CloudGuard account and configure your Azure environment. This involves setting up a virtual network, subnets, and security groups, which will serve as the foundation for your security solution.

With your Azure environment set up, you can begin deploying Checkpoint CloudGuard's security solutions, including firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and more. These solutions will provide real-time threat detection and prevention, keeping your Azure environment secure and protected.

By following Checkpoint CloudGuard's Azure deployment guide, you'll be able to deploy a scalable security solution that adapts to your business needs, ensuring the protection and integrity of your Azure environment.

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When deploying Check Point CloudGuard on Azure, you have two primary options: Azure Marketplace and Azure ARM Templates.

You can deploy CloudGuard using Azure Marketplace, which provides a streamlined process with minimal configuration required.

The Azure Marketplace deployment method is suitable for small to medium-sized environments, as it allows for quick setup and minimal manual intervention.

CloudGuard can also be deployed using Azure ARM Templates, which provides more flexibility and control over the deployment process.

This method is ideal for larger environments or those requiring custom configurations, as it allows for more granular control over the deployment process.

Azure ARM Templates can be used to deploy CloudGuard in a multi-region setup, allowing for greater scalability and redundancy.

To deploy using Azure ARM Templates, you will need to create a template file that defines the deployment parameters and settings.

The template file should include parameters such as the Azure subscription ID, resource group name, and virtual network settings.

Once the template file is created, it can be deployed using the Azure CLI or Azure portal.

The Azure CLI provides a command-line interface for deploying CloudGuard using ARM Templates, while the Azure portal offers a graphical interface for a more user-friendly experience.

Regardless of the deployment method chosen, it is essential to ensure that the necessary prerequisites are met, including Azure subscription and resource group setup.

For more insights, see: Azure Access Control Service

To configure Check Point Security Gateway properly, you need to understand its basic architecture. This involves launching the Security Gateway and configuring interfaces and static routes.

The reference architecture for Check Point Security Gateway is crucial in this process. As per the reference, the following steps are required to configure security policies successfully:

In an Azure environment, you'll need to review the Network Interfaces configuration for eth0 (WAN) and eth1 (LAN). This is where you'll find the static routes RFC 1918 configured on the LAN port.

Check Point CloudGuard IaaS HA provides high availability for cloud-based security services by automatically detecting and recovering from failures in the system. This ensures that security services are always available to protect the cloud infrastructure.

CloudGuard IaaS HA is designed to work with Check Point's cloud-based security gateways, which can be deployed in a high-availability configuration to ensure that security services are always available.

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In the event of a failure, CloudGuard IaaS HA automatically triggers a failover to a secondary system, ensuring that security services continue to operate without interruption.

CloudGuard IaaS HA supports multiple deployment options, including Azure and AWS, allowing customers to deploy high-availability security services in their preferred cloud environment.

By providing high availability for cloud-based security services, CloudGuard IaaS HA helps to ensure the reliability and uptime of cloud infrastructure.

To configure Check Point Security Gateway properly, you need to understand its basic architecture. The reference architecture is a great place to start, and it's essential to review it before proceeding.

Check Point Reference Architecture is a crucial step in configuring security policies. Please see the reference architecture for a detailed overview.

The reference architecture shows that to configure security policies successfully, you'll need to follow these steps:

In Azure, you'll need to launch and configure Check Point Security Gateway. If you're deploying in an AWS environment, start here.

Firewall Vendor Integration is a key feature of Aviatrix that allows for seamless communication between Aviatrix Gateway and a vendor's firewall instance. This integration can be done automatically or manually through the Cloud Portal and/or Vendor's Management tool.

Aviatrix supports integration with Check Point firewalls, which can be launched from the Aviatrix Controller. To do this, you'll need to go to Firewall Network > Setup > Step 2a and configure the Security Gateway information.

Here's an example of the settings you'll need to input:

Note that the SIC Key will be required to add the Security Gateway inside the Security Manager, so make sure to keep it safe. The Check Point Security Gateway instance has only two interfaces: eth0 and eth1.

To deploy and install Check Point Security Management, you'll need to start by deploying it from Azure Marketplace in Azure's Console. The Check Point Security Management CloudGuard version should be R80.40.

You'll need to log in to the Check Point Security Manager and download the SmartConsole on a Windows-based computer. The installation steps for Check Point Security Manager are not part of this guide, and they need to be done manually.

To configure security policies successfully, you'll need to understand the basic Check Point architecture. This involves launching Check Point Security Gateway, configuring interfaces and static routes, and other specific Security Gateway configuration.

For more insights, see: Azure Firewall Manager

Traffic Policy Configuration is a crucial step in setting up Check Point CloudGuard on Azure. To allow traffic to pass through the Security Gateway, you'll need to configure a basic traffic security policy. This can be done by modifying the default Cleanup rule or adding a new rule above it.

Start by navigating to Security Policies > Access Control > Policy in the Check Point SmartConsole. Here, you can configure a policy by setting the following fields:

Once you've set these fields, click Install Policy and then Install to commit the settings. After validating that your traffic is being routed through your Security Gateway instances, you can customize the security policy to tailor to your requirements.

If you want to allow internet traffic to pass through the firewall, you'll need to configure a basic traffic security policy that allows internet traffic to pass through the firewall. This involves enabling Egress through Firewall in the Aviatrix Controller and configuring a NAT function on the Check Point SmartConsole.

To enable Egress through Firewall, navigate to Firewall Network > Advanced in the Aviatrix Controller, click the skewer/three dot button, and then scroll down to Egress through Firewall and click Enable. Verify the Egress status on the Firewall Network > Advanced page.

On the Check Point SmartConsole, navigate to the Gateways & Servers page, double-click on the gateway itself, and enable NAT function by clicking NAT, then enabling Hide internal networks behind the Gateway's external IP checkbox, and clicking OK.

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To improve networking performance, consider using Azure virtual machines (VMs) with Azure's accelerated networking capability, which can provide a 2-3 times increase in throughput.

Azure accelerated networking can reduce jitter, latency, and CPU utilization, making it a key component of a high-performance network.

Dr. Yandapalli recommends using a virtual appliance that is available on one of the supported VM types with Azure's accelerated networking capability.

To manage network traffic, use VMs with multiple Network Interface Controllers (NICs), which can isolate various types of traffic across the different NICs. This can help you better manage your network traffic and improve scalability.

CloudGuard IaaS supports multi-NIC VMs, and Check Point recommends using at least two NICs per VM.

Accelerated networking is a game-changer for Azure security solutions. It can improve performance and reduce jitter, latency, and CPU utilization.

Check Point was the first certified compliant vendor with Azure accelerated networking. This means their solutions can take full advantage of accelerated networking's benefits.

Depending on workload and VM size, Check Point and customers have observed at least a 2-3 times increase in throughput due to Azure accelerated networking.

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Azure's accelerated networking capability is supported on one or more Azure virtual machine (VM) types. This allows for improved networking performance and is a key best practice for ISVs' Azure security solutions.

Accelerated networking is available on supported VM types with Azure's accelerated networking capability, which can improve performance and reduce jitter, latency, and CPU utilization.

CloudGuard IaaS supports multi-NIC VMs, without any maximum of the number of NICs. This allows for better network traffic management and isolation of various types of traffic.

To ensure reliability and high availability, Dr. Yandapalli suggests using a High Availability (HA) port load balancing rule.

Dr. Yandapalli recommends adding network virtual appliance instances to the backend pool of your internal load balancer.

This configuration can be achieved by simply adding network virtual appliance instances to the backend pool of your internal load balancer.

A HA port load balancer rule is used to distribute traffic across multiple instances of a network virtual appliance.

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CloudGuard IaaS supports this functionality with a standard load balancer via Azure Resource Manager deployment templates.

This allows customers to deploy CloudGuard IaaS easily in HA mode.

By configuring a HA port load-balancer rule, you can ensure that your NVA is reliable and highly available.

The diagram below shows an example usage of a HA port with Azure load balancer.

Flowchart example of a HA port with Azure load balancer.

VM Scale Sets are a game-changer for high availability.

Dr. Yandapalli recommends using Azure VM Scale Sets to provide high availability to your applications.

Scale sets provide the right amount of IaaS resources at any given time, depending on application needs.

This cloud-native functionality allows you to centrally manage, configure, and update a large number of VMs.

Check Point recommends using VMSS for traffic inspection of North-South (inbound/outbound) and East-West (lateral movement) traffic.

You can use an Azure Resource Manager deployment template to deploy CloudGuard in VMSS mode for added security and scalability.

For VNet to Internet, you need to ensure that your private instance can send traffic out to the internet without any issues. This requires configuring the egress function, which allows traffic to flow out of the VNet.

To verify egress function, launch a private instance in the Spoke VNet and start sending ping packets towards the internet, such as 8.8.8.8. The ICMP traffic should go through and get inspected on the firewall.

The egress inspection is only applicable to VNets with non-public-facing applications, as it inserts a default route (0.0.0.0/0) towards the Transit GW to send internet traffic towards the firewall for inspection. This means you should not enable egress inspection on Spoke VNets with public-facing web services.

Here's a summary of the egress inspection settings: