Expanding Enterprise Security with the Cato LAN NGFW 

With enterprise-wide cloud adoption and the onset of hybrid work, the mission has become clear: to securely connect users to applications — no matter where they are. 

While solutions like Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) can protect WAN and internet-bound traffic, anything happening on the internal LAN is in a blind spot. This leads to new challenges in which sensitive data and operations have become vulnerable due to inconsistent policies, hardware dependencies, and compliance issues. 

How do you avoid adding complexity while securing LAN traffic? And that’s exactly what the Cato LAN NGFW aims to address. The Cato LAN NGFW, announced today, is the world’s first SASE-native LAN NGFW.

Why LAN Security Is So Hard 

If you’ve had some pain in LAN security, you’re not alone. Traditional firewalls work through hardware appliances; this means purchasing, configuring, and maintaining several more devices. As your business expands, managing policies in multiple locations becomes an operational headache. And don’t even get me started on compliance—the task of making sure data segmentation and policies is applied across different environments can feel like an exercise in futility. 

Legacy approaches were simply not designed for the modern enterprise that requires seamless scalability in addition to centralized policy enforcement and protection against lateral threats without introducing complexity. They are complex, expensive, and require constant attention from already overstretched IT teams. This is why many businesses expose themselves to lateral threats traversing their networks. 

Introducing the Cato LAN NGFW—Security Without the Complexity 

Let’s say you are an IT admin with multiple locations, each with different security needs. Instead of having to spin up a ton of firewall appliances, you get complete LAN security built into your existing infrastructure with no added LAN firewall hardware appliance.  

The Cato LAN Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), a native, complementary feature of the Cato SASE Cloud Platform, delivers application-aware segmentation directly from the Cato Edge Socket. This provides the same level of protection for LAN traffic as for WAN and Internet-bound traffic. 

It operates at Layer 7, which allows detailed control over LAN applications such as RDP, SSH, and more. The Cato LAN NGFW is fully managed from the Cato Management Application (CMA) to apply a consistent set of enforcement across all locations. 

How the Cato LAN NGFW Simplifies Your Life 

Let’s address the key takeaway: simplify security while enhancing protection. 

No More Hardware Headaches 

Sick of firewall appliances? Cato LAN NGFW does not require additional devices, only the Cato Socket. You remove the cost, complexity, and upkeep associated with independent LAN firewalls, maintaining a lean infrastructure that is efficient. 

Security That Scales with You 

With the Cato LAN NGFW, whether you have one office or one hundred, you can apply application-aware segmentation consistently across all locations. Gone are the days of configuring separate firewalls for each site, as everything is managed from one console. 

Defending Against Lateral Threats 

An example of one of the greatest risks to security within a network is lateral movement—once a threat is inside, it proliferates. Thanks to its granular segmentation, the Cato LAN NGFW puts a stop to that, ensuring only the traffic that’s supposed to flow within your LAN actually does. 

Compliance Without the Hassle 

Not meeting regulatory requirements is hard if your security policies are spread across dozens of different systems. For instance, industries such as healthcare and finance need to adhere to strict data segmentation in order to remain compliant with regulations like HIPAA and PCI-DSS, preventing sensitive data from crossing unprotected network segments. Thanks to the Cato LAN NGFW, policies applied to the LAN are enforced locally on the Cato Socket, ensuring LAN traffic stays where it belongs, making compliance a breeze. 

Real-world Use Cases 

Doubt how this fits into your ecosystem? Here’s how Cato LAN NGFW is redefining network security for organizations like yours: 

Decommissioning Legacy LAN Firewalls 

Hardware lifecycle management, patches, and upgrades are full-time roles. With Cato LAN NGFW, standalone firewalls go the way of the dinosaurs, and you can natively embed segmentation into an existing SASE platform, thereby lowering both costs and operational overhead. 

Making Security Easier for Distributed Locations 

Ensuring LAN security when so many sites are involved can be challenging. With Cato, you can enforce uniform segmentation policies no matter the location with the Cato LAN NGFW. 

Avoiding the Lateral Spread of Threats 

You need to contain the threat once it breaches your network. The Cato LAN NGFW provides application-aware segmentation, securing critical systems without compromising performance. 

Complying with Regulatory Requirements 

For example, some compliance standards block LAN traffic from leaving its local network. Cato LAN NGFW ensures security in the Local Area Network so sensitive data stays where it belongs. 

Why Cato Networks? 

We believe that security should be simpler, smarter, and more scalable. Appending LAN security to the Cato SASE Cloud Platform enables us to rid ourselves of the hurdles that put traditional solutions on the frustration treadmill. 

With Cato, you get: 

• Seamless security for LAN, WAN, and the Internet 

• Enforcement of policies uniformly in every location 

• Simplified management and faster deployment 

Let’s Make Security Easy 

Security does not need to be complex. With the Cato LAN NGFW, all your network protection is delivered over a single platform in the cloud. If you’re ready to simplify LAN security, remove hardware headaches, and enhance compliance, it’s time to take a closer look at the Cato LAN NGFW. 

👉 Request a demo now to discover how effortless securing your LAN can be!