How to Improve Cloud Security and Productivity Through IP Whitelisting

Manually whitelisting IP addresses can be a time-consuming process that needs constant management which is why utilizing a service that does this for you can boost employee productivity and improve cloud security.

IP whitelisting allows IT administrators to assign any team member a single, static outgoing IP address. This capability enables new types of cloud and on-premises configurations that are only possible with static IP addresses.

Instead of blocking access to identified risks and threats, such as in the case of blacklisting applications, web pages or IP addresses, IP whitelisting allows you to identify and permit access to trusted resources.

By whitelisting IP’s, you are granting only trusted users within a specified IP address range permission to access specific domains or network resources such as emails, applications, URLs or more.

However, manually whitelisting IP addresses can be time-consuming and requires constant management. Here’s how you can automatically whitelist IPs so that you can boost employee productivity and improve cloud security for your entire network.

Whitelisting Usage and Benefits

Implementing IP whitelisting not only improves security but also promotes a more productive workforce by providing a secure and easy way for users to access private network resources from both personal and corporate mobile devices.

• Improve Cloud Security
  By implementing IP whitelisting, you can improve system security by preventing unauthorized access to your account. If someone tries to access your network with an IP address that isn’t whitelisted, they will be denied access. With Perimeter 81, we provide IT administrators and owners the ability to define user access for every employee in the network, group them with users of similar access limits, and automatically whitelist the group’s IP address.

• Increase Productivity
  Without a service like Perimeter 81 to whitelist IP addresses for you, IT administrators are left to manually whitelist IP addresses for users, websites, and other gated resources which can take a significant amount of time. With whitelisting, businesses can also limit access to unsecured or distracting sites that can reduce productivity and cut into profits. In fact, 50 percent of businesses take whitelisting very seriously because of these reasons.
• Secure Remote Access
  Whitelisting enables organizations to secure remote access to the network, including BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) that allow employees to utilize their own devices. With remote access security, businesses can mitigate both cloud and on-site risks that could negatively impact your company’s projects or profits.

How to Whitelist IPs with Perimeter 81

Utilizing Perimeter 81’s secure network access service, all Internet traffic is fully secured and encrypted. Using the unified management portal, IT administrators can easily block out threats, grant user access to approved resources and automatically whitelist specific IP addresses.

How it Works

Perimeter 81’s private gateway feature provides IT administrators with the power to whitelist IP addresses, thereby enabling all team members to share a single, static outgoing IP address accessible by your organization or partners.

For example, remote users can always connect to the Perimeter 81 private gateway first, then have their IP address whitelisted.

With Perimeter 81, you can give each user access to the necessary resources they need from any IP address by assigning users to groups. Each user signs in via Identity Provider integration, username and password, and/or two-factor authentication and is then able to access resources according to the roles and permissions assigned to them. This keeps IT administrators from having to manually whitelist every user’s IP address.

After the whitelist is configured with users and permissions, the user list should be audited on a routine basis as employees are hired and leave companies on a regular basis. In addition, partners that access IP whitelisted resources come and go and IT administrators should have full user access visibility through IP whitelisting.

Perimeter 81 IP Whitelisting in the Cloud

Because remote users can always connect to a gateway first and then have their IP address whitelisted to a security group, cloud service platforms including AWS, Azure, Office Firewall, SalesForce, or Zendesk can all be configured to work with Perimeter 81.

Using AWS, for instance, inbound traffic from Perimeter 81 to AWS can be authorized by whitelisting the Perimeter 81 Private Network IP address to your Security Groups (AWS Virtual Firewall).
AWS Security Groups enable the control of IP traffic to your instance, including traffic that can reach instances and services both in the cloud and on-premises.

To whitelist IPs, you can allow computers from only your Perimeter 81 Private Server to access your instance using SSH, or use a web server that allows all IP addresses to access your instance using HTTP or HTTPS, so that external users can browse the content on your web server only once connected to Perimeter 81.

Example: How to Whitelist IPs in AWS

Following is a walkthrough of how to use AWS Security Groups to enable the control of traffic to an AWS instance, including traffic that can reach both instances and services:

• Step 1: Create a Private Network IP Address
  First, create a Perimeter 81 Private Server and then obtain its static public IP address..
• Step 2: Add an EC2 Security Group Rule
  
  Add an EC2 Security Group Rule for Inbound Traffic from Perimeter 81 to the required resources by whitelisting access to the Perimeter 81 Private Network to other instances, databases and related security groups.
  
  • In the navigation pane of the Amazon EC2 console, choose Security Groups.
  • For every security group you’d like to allow secured access over your Perimeter 81 Private Network, add an Inbound Rule:
  • Specify the related Type (ALL TRAFFIC, SSH, HTTP/HTTPS etc..).
    • Under the Source, enter the Perimeter 81 Private Network IP address including the subnet mask. For example, for IP address 129.42.24.22, enter 129.42.24.22/32 (CIDR notation).
    • Click Save.

Add access from Perimeter 81 Private Network to your AWS Environment, Instances or databases

For most businesses, whitelisting IP addresses can be overwhelmingly beneficial. However, even though whitelisting can improve cybersecurity, boost productivity and benefit your bottom line, it’s important to remember that each line of security is important.

Whitelisting should not replace other security measures, but instead, be used as a complementary piece of a comprehensive security solution.