Firewalls are a security measure that has changed dramatically in the past decade. Initial firewalls acted as a gatekeeper between untrusted and trusted networks. Now, they have transformed into a multi-faceted and multi-layered threat management system.
The next-generation firewalls of today are a critical component of any modern network security strategy. However, not all of them are the same, nor do they offer the same amount of protection against cyber threats. While some features of firewalls overlap from one option to the next, there are definitely some musts that your next-generation firewall should have.
How to Pick a Next-Generation Firewall for Your Organization
With a lot of options to choose from, it may seem like every firewall will give you the same amount of protection. That isn’t the case, though. Their differences may not align with your network security strategy. When picking a next-generation firewall, you should look to see if they do these things:
1) The scanning for viruses and malware: A good next-generation firewall will scan for viruses and malware in allowed applications. Several organizations employ collaborative applications, such as SharePoint, Google Docs, or Microsoft Office, that aren’t hosted directly in their office. Because these applications share files, they are a potential high-risk threat from an attack. Infected documents can be stored in collaborative applications and shouldn’t be exposed.
2) Use policy to deal with traffic: Unknown traffic always presents a risk to the network security of an organization. Your next firewall needs to classify all traffic, which provides a positive enforcement model (known as a default deny). Security solutions that allow all unknown traffic have a negative model (known as a default allow). Allow all should never be the foundation of your policy structure because what you don’t know will surely hurt you.
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3) Make your network security simple: Many times more security measures like firewalls add another layer of complexity to already overloaded security processes. If an IT team can’t successfully manage what they already have, adding these extra security measures won’t help. Common firewall installations can have thousands of rules, adding thousands of application signatures across several thousand ports, causing your complexity level to triple tenfold. Your next-generation firewall needs to apply policy based on the user, as well as on the application. Doing so will simplify policy modeling and management.
4) Identify and control circumventors: Many organizations use security controls that enforce policies they have worked hard to create and implement. When hackers try to infiltrate a network, they can use remote access or proxies, which circumvent firewalls. If these circumventors can’t be controlled, an organization’s security policies would be rendered useless, and they would be exposed. Your next-generation firewall needs to effectively deal with these circumventors.
Firewalls are a key part of a network security strategy and must be able to protect an organization in more ways than one. If you’re looking for a next-generation firewall, make sure it can scan for threats in applications, control traffic with policies, simplify your network, and control circumventors.
