Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Drew talks with Joao Soares, Lead IT Security Consultant, about a project Joao undertook to automate firewall rule changes. Firewall changes can be fraught in any environment, but Joao also had to contend with working in the highly-regulated energy sector.
They walk through how the project went from proof-of-concept to being widely used in production, including by software developers who can make their own changes.
Joao discusses the business drivers behind the initiative, technical and human hurdles, tools and workflows used, guardrails and sanity checks, operational impacts of the project, shareable lessons, and more.
Joao presented on this topic at AutoCon 5. This episode was recorded on site at the conference.
Links:
Joao Soares on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/joaopsys
AutoCon 5 - https://networkautomation.forum/autocon5
Packet Protector is part of the Packet Pushers network. Visit our website to find more great networking and technology podcasts, along with tutorial videos, the Human Infrastructure newsletter, and loads more resources for building your IT career. packetpushers.net
Drew talks with Joao Soares, Lead IT Security Consultant, about a project Joao undertook to automate firewall rule changes. Firewall changes can be fraught in any environment, but Joao also had to contend with working in the highly-regulated energy sector.
They walk through how the project went from proof-of-concept to being widely used in production, including by software developers who can make their own changes.
Joao discusses the business drivers behind the initiative, technical and human hurdles, tools and workflows used, guardrails and sanity checks, operational impacts of the project, shareable lessons, and more.
Joao presented on this topic at AutoCon 5. This episode was recorded on site at the conference.
Links:
Joao Soares on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/joaopsys
AutoCon 5 - https://networkautomation.forum/autocon5
Packet Protector is part of the Packet Pushers network. Visit our website to find more great networking and technology podcasts, along with tutorial videos, the Human Infrastructure newsletter, and loads more resources for building your IT career. packetpushers.net
