Cyber security
Hosted firewall
Fortinet firewalls hosted in our network and managed by us, blocking threats at the edge before they reach your systems, and kept up to date so the box nobody has touched for years stops being the gap.
Who it is for
Businesses in Teesside and the North East whose firewall was set up years ago by someone who has since left, is out of manufacturer support, or is the ISP's router with the defaults still on. Also multi-site businesses that want one set of security policies across every site, and any business facing the Cyber Essentials rule that firewalls must be patched within 14 days.
What you get
A Fortinet firewall at the edge of your network, hosted in Odyssey's own network rather than a box in your comms cupboard, with threat detection, intrusion prevention and web filtering configured to your policies, firmware and threat signatures kept current by our team, your network edge monitored in real time, and one set of rules covering every site. No hardware to buy, power or replace, and the people who run the network it sits in are the people who answer when you call.
The problem
A firewall only protects you if it is configured well and kept up to date. On-site boxes set up years ago and never touched again are common, and they are a gap.
When a firewall reaches end of life the manufacturer stops providing updates, patches and support: security vulnerabilities go unfixed, bugs stay, and if the hardware fails there is no replacement under warranty. The network behind it is exposed, and nobody notices because the box still has its lights on.
Even a supported firewall needs looking after. Rules accumulate as exceptions are added for a system that was retired years ago; a port opened for a contractor stays open; firmware is a version behind. From 27 April 2026 Cyber Essentials requires high-risk and critical updates on routers and firewalls within 14 days, and missing it is an automatic fail. Insurers ask the same question in their own words.
A hosted firewall sits in our network, between your sites and the internet, where our engineers configure it, patch it and watch it. Your connection runs through it on the way in and out, the policies apply to every site, and when you add a site or need a change, it is a job for the service desk rather than a visit and a new box.
What Odyssey provides
- Fortinet firewalls hosted in Odyssey's network, between your sites and the internet
- Threat detection and intrusion prevention at the network edge, with threat signatures kept current
- Web and content filtering to your policy, so staff reach what they need and not what they should not
- Secure remote access for staff working away from the office, and site-to-site connections between your sites
- Firmware and rules kept up to date and tuned by our team, with your network edge monitored in real time
- One set of policies across every site, with capacity that grows with your traffic and users
What is included
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| Design | Rules and policies set around your network, sites, applications and the way staff work, with the old exceptions reviewed rather than copied across |
| Deployment | The hosted firewall connected to your sites over our network, with your connection routed through it and tested |
| Protection | Threat detection, intrusion prevention, web and content filtering and application control configured to your policy |
| Remote access | Secure access for staff working away from the office, and site-to-site connections where you have several sites |
| Updates | Firmware and threat signatures kept current, with critical updates applied within the 14 days Cyber Essentials requires |
| Monitoring | Alerts watched by our team, blocked attacks and policy breaches investigated, and changes made by the service desk |
| Reporting | A regular summary of what was blocked and which rules changed, for insurers and audits |
Not included, or sold separately
- The connection itself
- Business broadband, a leased line or a private WAN from your sites is a separate service; the firewall sits where it meets the internet
- Endpoint and identity protection
- The firewall guards the edge; a stolen password used on Microsoft 365 or malware on a laptop at home is caught by endpoint and identity protection, a separate service
- Switches, Wi-Fi and cabling inside the building
- The network behind the firewall is networking and cabling, installed by the same engineers
- A security operations centre
- Alerts are watched by our team in office hours; out of hours a fault or an alert reaches our out-of-hours service desk rota, and the work is never drawn from retained hours and is charged at the consumed list rate for the grade of engineer in use
- Your acceptable use policy
- We configure web filtering to the policy you decide and tell you what we see; the decision about what staff may reach is yours
How it is delivered
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Review what is there
The current firewall or router, its support status, its rules and the exceptions nobody can explain, and where each site meets the internet.
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Design the policy
Rules written for how the business works now: what comes in, what goes out, what staff may reach, who connects remotely and how sites talk to each other. Old exceptions are retired, not copied.
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Deploy and route
The hosted firewall built in our network, your connection routed through it, and the policy tested with your applications and phones before the old box is retired.
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Watch and patch
Alerts investigated, firmware and signatures kept current, critical updates applied within 14 days, and the report of what was blocked sent to you.
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Change as you change
A new site, a new application, a contractor who needs access for a week: a call to the service desk, answered within three rings, not a site visit and a new box.
Why trust Odyssey with this
-
ISO
Certified to ISO 27001 for information security
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In-house
All work completed by Odyssey employees, never subcontracted
-
3
Calls answered within three rings, and a director is always reachable
- Built alongside our own business-only core network
Questions people ask
What is a hosted firewall?
A firewall that runs in our network rather than as a box in your office, so it is configured, monitored and updated by our team without equipment on site, and the same policies cover every site that connects through it.
Which firewalls do you use?
Fortinet firewalls, hosted in Odyssey's network alongside our own business-only core network and managed by our team.
Can it protect more than one site?
Yes. Several sites can be protected under one set of policies, with site-to-site connections between them and secure remote access for staff away from the office.
Our firewall is out of support. Does that matter?
Yes. An end-of-life firewall gets no security patches, bug fixes or warranty, so vulnerabilities stay open while the lights stay on. It also fails Cyber Essentials, which requires critical updates on firewalls within 14 days.
Who keeps the firewall up to date?
We do. Our team keeps firmware and threat signatures current, applies critical updates within the 14 days Cyber Essentials requires, reviews the rules and monitors your network edge, so it never becomes a box nobody has touched for years.
What about the network inside our building?
For on-site networks we install and manage UniFi switches, Wi-Fi and gateways; see our networking and cabling service. The hosted firewall sits where your network meets the internet.
Can staff work remotely through it?
Yes. Secure remote access for staff working away from the office is part of the policy, so they reach company systems through the firewall rather than around it.
Will it slow our connection down?
It is sized for your traffic and grows with it. Because it sits in our network, on the path your traffic already takes, it adds inspection without a detour, and we test your applications and phones through it before the old firewall is retired.
Challenges this helps with
Related services
Ask about hosted firewall
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Rather talk? Call 01642 661888. Already a customer with a fault? Call the service desk on 01642 661800.
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Talk to a human about hosted firewall
Call and we answer within three rings. Or tell us what you need and we will call you back at any time.