UTM parameters on digital ads and marketing content can help you better understand and compare traffic data over time. However, it requires a systematic and consistent way of appending the UTM code to your URLs.
Here are some tips to get you started.
Understand Your Needs
A UTM solution can be a single product that meets all your network security needs or a collection of tools that help prevent and respond to various threats. For example, many companies use SIEM solutions, malware detection and prevention tools, NGFWs, user behavior analytics (UBA), and web filtering tools to manage cyber threat data and protect their networks. This information could be more organized and more accessible to interpret, making it hard to find and prioritize the most severe threats. A UTM platform with disruptive technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities can filter out this noise, exposing the most critical threats and enabling your team to take action quickly to mitigate damage and recover from a breach.
The best UTM solutions can be customized to meet your specific business needs. For example, if your employees work from home, look for a UTM solution that offers robust VPN support and permanently secures data—even when users are offsite.
When evaluating different UTM solutions, list three to five non-negotiable features you need. This will help you narrow your options and find products matching your team’s expertise and budget.
Identify Your Goals
As you assess your needs and what a UTM solution offers, you’ll want to evaluate scalability, performance, and deployment options. For example, many vendors offer UTMs as hardware appliances (physical or virtual) or cloud-based services, allowing you to select the option that best fits your organizational budget and requirements.
A unified threat management system will provide more comprehensive protection than point solutions like firewalls or content filters alone. Hence, thinking about how the product meshes with your overall cybersecurity strategy is essential. Will it protect against all attacks, or does it focus on specific threats more than others?
Consider how the UTM will impact your internal processes and operations. For example, a UTM can support various policies, enabling you to control web content access based on departmental goals and objectives. For example, a UTM can block social media for most departments but allow your marketing team to access Facebook and Twitter for outreach purposes.
To use UTMs effectively, you’ll need to establish and stick to a naming convention. This will ensure consistency and make it easier to compare data over time.
Determine Your Budget
When selecting a UTM solution, it’s essential to consider your team’s expertise, needs, and budget. The most cost-efficient UTM products provide comprehensive firewall security features within a hardware appliance. This can significantly reduce upfront costs, ongoing maintenance fees, and hardware requirements, saving your business money in the long run.
The best UTM solutions often offer several other features that can benefit your business. For example, UTM solutions that include data loss prevention can detect sensitive information and prevent it from leaving your network.
This can protect your organization from costly cyberattacks, as well as help to maintain employee productivity. UTM solutions incorporating VPNs can also help protect your network from threats by encrypting and anonymizing traffic. UTM load balancing can also improve network performance by routing traffic evenly between various databases and servers, improving overall network stability during peak use.
When evaluating UTM solutions, it’s often a good idea to select appliances from vendors that are recognized industry leaders. These providers typically have a solid track record, adequate support, and the resources to perform ongoing research into emerging threats and integrate the latest protections into their solutions. Continuity and compatibility with existing infrastructure are also essential factors to consider. UTM solutions that work seamlessly with existing firewall systems can ensure efficient integration and minimize the learning curve for your existing staff.
Compare Solutions
Unified threat management appliances are popular with small to midsize environments (and gaining traction in more extensive infrastructures). These devices bundle firewall, virtual private network (VPN) access, application control, and intrusion protection services into one device, saving money on hardware and reducing complexity for IT staff.
Before settling on a UTM solution, take the time to compare solutions based on your specific business needs. Consider factors like scalability, compatibility, ease of use, vendor support, and total cost of ownership. Look for appliances from vendors with a solid reputation for providing comprehensive security protection, and check their websites for details about product performance and costs.
UTM solutions often include a variety of reporting and analytics capabilities that can help you better understand your network traffic and identify potential security breaches before they become a problem. For example, many UTM solutions offer the ability to track visits to your website using UTM parameters, which you can append to your URL.
Some UTM solutions can also provide compliance management features that help you comply with industry regulations. For example, a UTM appliance that uses identity-based security to create policies based on user identification can meet regulatory compliance requirements like HIPPA, CIPA, and GLBA for companies dealing with sensitive customer or financial data.