Secure Data Solutions — Engineering Answers

Firewall & network engineering

Migrate firewalls.
Keep the business connected.

Secure Data Solutions (SDS) is a firewall and network security engineering firm founded in 2007 in West Palm Beach, Florida. We replace aging firewalls, segment critical systems, and fix hard network faults. We work for businesses that need senior project help and for MSPs that need subcontract or white-label engineering.

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Platform experience

Firewalls: Check Point · Fortinet · Palo Alto Networks · Cisco · Juniper

Networks & infrastructure: Cisco · Juniper · Aruba Networks

Common firewall and network projects

Selected career experience

Engineering in demanding environments.

These two projects show how we handle firewall policy, segmentation, and engineering for regulated systems.

Utility / NERC CIP

Rebuilding plant networks around NERC CIP requirements

Challenge

Harden the networks at 17 power plants around observed traffic and NERC CIP requirements.

Engineering

Rebuilt Check Point firewall rule bases, hardened existing configurations, and introduced new segmentation with Cisco switches. Covered Layer 2, Layer 3, and application-layer security. Staged configurations and tested each cutover during planned plant outages.

Delivered

Network designs, validated configurations, tested cutovers, and technical procedures to support NERC CIP requirements.

Payment infrastructure / PCI

Building defense in depth for payment systems

Challenge

Rebuild security across two FDOT/SunPass payment data centers in line with PCI requirements.

Engineering

Rebuilt Check Point firewall rule bases, hardened existing configurations, and created new segments using Cisco switches. Layer 2, Layer 3, and application-layer security formed a defense-in-depth design, backed by detailed build documentation.

Delivered

An operational network design for two data centers, each with two firewall clusters. Included PCI-aligned traffic policies and build documentation.

Read the full case studies

Firewall migration

Secure Data Solutions moves businesses and MSP customers from aging firewalls to new platforms. We carry forward the access your business needs and retire the legacy rules it no longer uses. We plan coexistence, cutover, and rollback before the maintenance window. You receive dependency findings, a cutover and rollback plan, and acceptance tests. We migrate Check Point, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, and Juniper firewalls.

SDS engineering

Planning a phased firewall migration

Secure Data Solutions planned a phased Fortinet-to-Meraki migration with interim coexistence across VTI VPNs, BGP, and OSPF. The plan included VLAN and gateway redesign. It also covered replacing a Layer 3 core with Cisco switching.

Network segmentation

Separating sensitive systems from shared networks

Secure Data Solutions separates users, servers, and sensitive applications while keeping required traffic working. This is for businesses and MSPs that need sensitive systems off shared networks.

  1. Analyze traffic and application dependencies.
  2. Configure VLANs on the firewall and switches, with the associated access rules.
  3. Plan DNS and IP changes, validation, and rollback.
  4. Move systems to the new VLAN behind the firewall interface and verify required traffic.

The work goes beyond creating VLANs. It connects traffic analysis, switching, firewall policy, and migration planning.

Firewall and network services

We work on Check Point, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, and Juniper firewalls.

Firewall rule base review & cleanup

Review existing rules against business traffic and access requirements before changing policy.

  • Identify obsolete, duplicate, and overly broad rules for review with your team.
  • Implement agreed cleanup, test required application access, and document the resulting policy.
Firewall change workflow & automation

Bring firewall change requests under a defined, reviewable workflow.

  • Design request, risk review, approval, and implementation steps. Connect them to your ticketing system where it helps.
  • Automate policy analysis and change records so reviewers see what a request will open before it is approved.
  • Career experience: deployed Tufin SecureTrack and SecureChange across more than 250 NextEra Energy/FPL firewalls. Integrated the platform with Remedy change control. The change process dropped from two weeks to a few days.
Network security assessment (internet-facing)

Map your threat exposure: what is reachable from the internet, and what needs to stay reachable.

  • Inventory public services, NAT, remote access, and management interfaces.
  • Review firewall and VPN configuration. Then prioritize hardening and validation.
External perimeter firewall deployments

Build the boundary between internet connectivity and business services.

  • Design policy, routing, NAT, VPNs, and logging.
  • Stage configurations, plan cutover, and test connectivity.
High availability & disaster recovery

We design, build, and test high-availability (HA) clusters and failover on Fortinet, Check Point, Palo Alto Networks, and Cisco. We also write and test disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity plans with your team. The goal is validated resilience: a failed site or appliance should not take the business down.

Internal firewalls & network segmentation

Separate users, servers, and sensitive applications while preserving required traffic.

  • Map traffic flows and trust boundaries.
  • Implement firewall rules, VLANs, and Layer 2/Layer 3 controls.
  • Deliver an access matrix and application-path tests.
Firewall and VPN troubleshooting

Trace failures across routing, switching, firewalls, and the applications that depend on them.

  • Diagnose site-to-site VPN connectivity, firewall policy, routing, and traffic-path dependencies.
  • Test the suspected cause, document the correction, and verify affected services.
Network & security architecture

Connect switching, routing, wireless, identity, and infrastructure in a design your team can operate.

  • Current-state diagrams, dependency maps, and a target architecture.
  • Capacity, failure domains, recovery procedures, and implementation sequencing.
Security assessment remediation

Turn assessment findings into agreed segmentation, firewall-policy, and hardening changes.

  • Prioritize findings, map dependencies, and plan implementation with your team.
  • Implement approved fixes, retest the affected paths, and record remaining issues.

Controlled changes, documented results

Before implementation

We agree responsibilities, approvals, change windows, acceptance tests, and recovery steps with your team.

At handoff

Defensive engineering ends with a clear record. We give operators the diagrams, configurations, validation evidence, and runbooks they need to support the result.

Bring us the project your team doesn't staff for.

Tell us about the environment, the problem, and the change you need. You'll speak directly with an engineer at Secure Data Solutions (SDS) about scope and next steps. Secure Data Solutions works on-site in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties and up through Polk County. We also work remotely and travel when needed.

Discuss your project