In a recent webinar collaboration between OPNsense and Zenarmor, Ad Schellevis, the CIO of OPNsense, and Lyal Saayman, the product manager at Zenarmor, took center stage as presenters. Schellevis, one of the founders of the OPNsense project, and Saayman, representing Zenarmor, emphasized the collaborative nature of the webinar, aiming to provide insights into how their companies work together.
The agenda for the webinar was clearly outlined, indicating a duration of approximately 35 to 45 minutes, followed by a Q&A session. It covered high-level introductions to OPNsense and Zenarmor, discussing their origins, hardware options, flexibility, and extensibility. Additionally, the agenda included topics such as reporting and monitoring, remote work, VPNs, advanced protection, and central management for both products.
Key takeaways from the discussion about OPNsense and Zenarmor included:
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Introduction to OPNsense: Schellevis introduced OPNsense as an open-source firewall solution founded in 2014, emphasizing its transparent development process, large user base, and frequent releases with new features and security patches.
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Enterprise Features: The presenters elaborated on OPNsense’s enterprise-grade features, including routing, firewall rules, VPN technologies, traffic shaping, and intrusion detection/prevention.
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Flexibility & Extensibility: Schellevis discussed how OPNsense offers flexibility and extensibility through community-developed plugins, citing examples like WireGuard integration and support for third-party solutions like Zenarmor.
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Compatibility & Hardware Options: It was mentioned that OPNsense runs on x86 hardware and supports various virtualization platforms, offering its own hardware appliances tailored for firewall use.
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Reporting & Monitoring: Schellevis detailed OPNsense’s comprehensive tools for network diagnostics, traffic analysis, and real-time monitoring, allowing users to track network issues, bandwidth usage, and security events.
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Advanced Protection: The presenters described how OPNsense provides advanced protection using Suricata with various rule sets and how Zenarmor enhances security with advanced threat intelligence. Remote Work (VPN): Schellevis covered OPNsense’s support for various VPN technologies for remote work scenarios and discussed how Zenarmor complements this by providing traffic monitoring and control for remote users.
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Central Management: The presenters discussed OPNsense Business Edition’s OPN Central for centralized firewall management and mentioned Zenarmor’s Zenconsole for cloud-based management.
Insights from the Q&A session highlighted:
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Strategic Deployment of Security Tools: Participants explored the optimal placement of tools like Suricata and Zenarmor within network infrastructure, emphasizing flexibility.
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Transitioning to Business Editions: Discussions centered around migrating from community versions to business editions of security software, with considerations provided on managing version disparities and leveraging the latest features.
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Empowering Learning: Attendees were encouraged to explore various learning resources, including YouTube tutorials and free trial options, to deepen their understanding of OPNsense and Zenarmor functionalities.
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Future Roadmap and Enhancements: Participants gained insights into upcoming features and enhancements, underscoring the commitment to continuous improvement.
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Support and Collaboration: The importance of robust support channels and collaboration opportunities was emphasized for nurturing a vibrant security community.
Overall, the webinar provided valuable insights into network security integration, offering perspectives on fortifying security posture in an evolving digital landscape.