A quick security checklist for SD-WAN lets IT leaders evaluate firewalls, segmentation, and policy enforcement in hybrid networks. Use a checklist to compare vendors, eliminate risk, and ensure that your SD-WAN solution stays up-to-date with infrastructure, zero trust, and security services needs.
SD-WAN security requirements checklist
An SD-WAN security checklist begins with solid baseline protection across all connections, devices, and management interfaces. All WAN traffic should be encrypted with AES-128 or AES-256 to prevent data theft as it travels across MPLS, LTE, and public networks. Use zero-touch provisioning with TPM, PKI, and multi-factor authentication to protect the device onboarding process. Secure out-of-band channels with encryption and role-based access control to stop changes made outside your team.
Regular patch enforcement and access control policies protect your orchestration tools and network from vulnerabilities. Apply these standards along with the Palo Alto firewall checklist to improve your network security and incorporate best practices from SD-WAN implementation planning.
For those using Versa networks, Tufin provides dedicated support and centralized security policy orchestration, audit tracking, and automation to help secure SD-WAN environments. That means you can extend your existing topology and compliance workflows to include Versa Networks SD-WAN and SASE, bringing your on-premises, cloud, and edge environments together in one unified view. With centralized visibility and automation across Versa deployments, teams can enforce consistent policies and deliver real-time, end-to-end protection across your WAN architecture.
Monitoring and validation
Real-time logging and centralized IPAM, SIEM, and SOAR integrations let your team monitor VPN activity, access attempts, and segmentation behavior across your network. This insight makes it easier to detect policy violations and catch misconfigurations before they become security events. Tools like the Tufin Orchestration Suite let you automate these processes and eliminate manual troubleshooting in hybrid networks.
Policy drift can happen quickly as environments evolve. Inconsistent rules between cloud-based and on-premises systems leave open access controls or create vulnerabilities. If your security policies are fragmented, periodically validate rule alignment and control plane behavior to eliminate these risks.
Testing should go beyond checking uptime. Simulated breach scenarios and routing failures help spot performance gaps and validate the effectiveness of segmentation, intrusion detection, and other security features. Use this insight to align these tests with a cloud security assessment checklist for business continuity and be prepared for SD-WAN and traditional network environments.
Tufin can enforce policies, simplify orchestration, and integrate with SIEM tools. Tufiin also offers API-based rule management and real-time validation of access policies. Improve productivity without compromising protection or limiting SASE integration potential, easily integrating with broader networking solutions across your enterprise, with Tufin Orchestration Suite.
Use your checklist as an operational risk tool
Your network is constantly moving. Vendors, applications, and traffic paths shift faster than most policies can keep up. This is why your SD-WAN security checklist should be more than a one-time evaluation. If you’re managing provisioning across Cisco routers or managing user experience across SaaS, MPLS, and on-premises environments, you should know every security function is still holding up under real-time conditions.
For better visibility, fewer gaps, and stronger control across segmentation, network performance, and advanced security capabilities, request a demo.
Frequently asked questions
What should be included in an SD-WAN security checklist?
At a minimum, your checklist should include encryption protocols, segmentation controls, access policies, log integration with SIEM, and a way to regularly verify that everything is still working as expected. If you skip one of these, it’s easier for access gaps or policy conflicts to go unnoticed.
See how these best practices align with the Palo Alto firewall checklist for improving network security.
How often should an SD-WAN security checklist be updated?
IT teams should review the checklist at least once per quarter or any time there’s a significant change, such as adding a SaaS platform, migrating from MPLS to broadband, or changing service providers. If you wait too long to update, you risk policy drift, conflicting firewall rules, or inconsistent access controls.
See more strategies in fragmented security policies.
Can an SD-WAN security checklist help improve firewall rule quality?
Yes. Regular use of the checklist helps spot outdated, redundant, or conflicting rules that often go unnoticed in complex environments. This insight makes it easier for your team to tighten policies and eliminate manual troubleshooting.
See the next step in firewall rule cleanup best practices.
