Threat prevention
Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS)
One firewall policy for every branch and remote user, delivered from the cloud.
Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS) moves firewall policy from individual boxes into the cloud. Nexapp FWaaS applies application- and user-aware rules to branch and remote-user traffic, under the same policy engine as SWG, CASB, DLP, ZTNA and the NGFW on Nexapp edges.
What it does
A box-by-box firewall estate is hard to keep consistent. Every branch has its own rule set, remote users bypass the branch firewall entirely, and a policy change can take days to reach every site. Firewall-as-a-Service fixes this by enforcing firewall policy in the cloud. Traffic from sites and users is checked against one rule set that knows which application and which user each flow belongs to. You write a rule once, and it applies wherever the traffic starts.
How it works in Nexapp
Application and user awareness
Rules match on application, user and group, not only on IP address and port, so policy reads like business intent.
Cloud and edge under one policy
FWaaS in Nexapp SSE and the NGFW on Nexapp edges share one policy engine. Site traffic can be filtered at the branch and internet-bound traffic in the cloud.
Post-quantum tunnels
Traffic reaches the service over tunnels that use hybrid classical + ML-KEM key exchange (FIPS 203) with ML-DSA (FIPS 204) authentication.
Logs for audit
Firewall events feed reports and XDR, and can be sent to your SIEM over syslog.
Where teams use it
New branches on day one
A lender opening branches in smaller towns applies head-office firewall policy to each new site from the start, with zero-touch provisioning at the edge.
Hybrid and remote staff
Sales staff working from home get the same firewall rules as in the office, through the InstaAccess client.
Stores with local internet breakout
A retail chain sends SaaS traffic straight to the internet from each store, while FWaaS keeps all of it under one rule set.
Frequently asked questions
Do we still need a firewall at each branch?
It depends on the site. Nexapp edges run NGFW functions locally, and FWaaS covers internet-bound traffic and remote users.
Many customers use both under one policy.
What is the difference between FWaaS and NGFW?
An NGFW is a firewall at a site.
FWaaS delivers firewall policy as a cloud service. In Nexapp, both are managed from one console with one policy engine.
Is traffic to FWaaS encrypted?
Yes. Tunnels use hybrid post-quantum key exchange (ML-KEM, FIPS 203) with ML-DSA (FIPS 204) authentication, which protects recorded traffic against harvest-now, decrypt-later attacks.
Related capabilities
- Secure Web Gateway (SWG)Safe internet access for every user, whether at a branch, at home or on the road.
- Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)Stop known exploits at the edge and in the cloud before they reach your systems.
- Secured SD-WANBond every link into one encrypted WAN with SLA steering, sub-second failover and built-in security.
- All capabilitiesEvery capability in the Nexapp SASE platform.
See Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS) on your own sites.
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