Data Castles: Next-gen firewalls and managed IT security.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy

As a growing company with locations across a wide geographical area, Alaska Rubber Group (ARG) thrives on employing top-of-the-line technology. The Anchorage-based business has made a huge, successful push with digital transformation over the past few years. Having a solid and secure IT infrastructure allows ARG to give customers access to services when, where, and how they need them. It also enables the company's remote employees to connect and communicate consistently across teams scattered throughout Alaska, Washington, and Oregon.

But none of this would be possible without the help of a good IT provider, says Mike Mortensen, CEO and president of ARG, a supplier of belts, hoses, and ropes to the oil and gas, mining, fishing, timber, agriculture, marine, and construction industries. "Because of the tools we have deployed the last few years, it has really brought our company together and helped us streamline processes and procedures," he says.

ARG relies on a range of managed services provided by Arctic IT to support its complex computer network and growth-oriented strategy.

"Having a partner like Arctic IT -- which is not only servicing us with the tools we need today but is looking around the corner for what's coming, partnering with us and understanding our vision, and coming to the table to provide ideas and solutions to help us prepare for growth--has been key to us," Mortensen says.

Many organizations like ARG are integrating the latest technology to protect their network, information, and other assets. They're using next-generation or next-gen firewalls (NGFWs) that not only filter network traffic but incorporate more complex functions--deep packet inspection (DPI), intrusion prevention systems, virtual private networks (VPNs), content filtering, and secure sockets layer (SSL)/transport layer security inspection--to help IT administrators monitor and respond to security threats. This advanced technology, often facilitated by third-party providers, is helping companies detect suspicious activity and block modern threats like advanced malware before they can have a negative impact.

Important Features

Every business should have a firewall installed, but with the increasing threat landscape, it's now even more important to leverage the increased security provided by a next-gen firewall, says Erik Fredrickson, program manager for information security at Alaska Communications. "Next-gen firewalls offer greater security protection...