Infrastructure and networks
What is a Next Generation Firewall and why you need one
Just as for the ancients defending the walls from the onslaught of enemies was the first goal for the survival of the entire community, protecting one’s data from snoopers who want to get hold of it is the goal at the top of every company’s priority list.
There is no difference between big companies and small and medium-sized enterprises, because information is the wealth on which the organization’s profitability is based.
One can well understand, therefore, how important it is for companies to identify and implement solutions that can ensure protection from cyber criminals’ intrusion attempts.
It is no coincidence that as attack techniques become increasingly sophisticated, companies are inclined to increase their defense budgets.
In addition to cybersecurity systems, the tools relied upon to build the fortress to defend include the firewall in its most advanced version, namely the Next Generation Firewall.
There is no difference between big companies and small and medium-sized enterprises, because information is the wealth on which the organization’s profitability is based.
One can well understand, therefore, how important it is for companies to identify and implement solutions that can ensure protection from cyber criminals’ intrusion attempts.
It is no coincidence that as attack techniques become increasingly sophisticated, companies are inclined to increase their defense budgets.
In addition to cybersecurity systems, the tools relied upon to build the fortress to defend include the firewall in its most advanced version, namely the Next Generation Firewall.
What is a Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)
To understand what a Next Generation Firewall is and how it came into being, we need to take a step back by going back to the traditional firewall.
The one that manages network traffic between hosts and end systems, allowing information to be transmitted between the various devices connected to the corporate network and the Internet, or blocking traffic if the analysis of packets coming from certain servers or specific IP addresses do not meet predefined security rules.
We have to imagine it, then, as a security filter that checks everything and stops at the door those who are suspicious or hiding something. Technological evolution forces companies to continually upgrade, so with the proliferation of cyber threats, particularly with the rapid spread of ransomware, stateful firewalls have proven to be easily circumvented and therefore unable to provide security.
Building on this need, in 2007 Gartner introduced the Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), defined as “a deep packet inspection firewall that goes beyond inspection and blocking of ports and protocols, adding application-level inspection, intrusion prevention, and intelligence input from outside the firewall.”
In addition to inspecting various traffic characteristics to enforce firewall policies on Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) order communication at higher levels than the traditional firewall, NGFWs add advanced capabilities that enable the prevention and identification of attempted attacks on corporate security systems.
The one that manages network traffic between hosts and end systems, allowing information to be transmitted between the various devices connected to the corporate network and the Internet, or blocking traffic if the analysis of packets coming from certain servers or specific IP addresses do not meet predefined security rules.
We have to imagine it, then, as a security filter that checks everything and stops at the door those who are suspicious or hiding something. Technological evolution forces companies to continually upgrade, so with the proliferation of cyber threats, particularly with the rapid spread of ransomware, stateful firewalls have proven to be easily circumvented and therefore unable to provide security.
Building on this need, in 2007 Gartner introduced the Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), defined as “a deep packet inspection firewall that goes beyond inspection and blocking of ports and protocols, adding application-level inspection, intrusion prevention, and intelligence input from outside the firewall.”
In addition to inspecting various traffic characteristics to enforce firewall policies on Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) order communication at higher levels than the traditional firewall, NGFWs add advanced capabilities that enable the prevention and identification of attempted attacks on corporate security systems.
What is the difference between an NGFW and a traditional firewall
As much as the common goal is to protect the organization’s corporate network and data assets, there is a clear difference between a Next Generation Firewall and a traditional firewall.
Generally speaking, the former are able to go deeper in analyzing network traffic, to understand its origin, possible threats and related dangers that in case of access to corporate data can damage the most important endowment of enterprises.
At the level of functionality, the NGFW blocks traffic that does not conform to what is predetermined, looking at visibility the latest entrant enables a more thorough and reliable analysis of traffic, leveraging unified threat management services and ensuring the identification, prevention and reporting of a wider variety of attacks.
Generally speaking, the former are able to go deeper in analyzing network traffic, to understand its origin, possible threats and related dangers that in case of access to corporate data can damage the most important endowment of enterprises.
At the level of functionality, the NGFW blocks traffic that does not conform to what is predetermined, looking at visibility the latest entrant enables a more thorough and reliable analysis of traffic, leveraging unified threat management services and ensuring the identification, prevention and reporting of a wider variety of attacks.
Functions and features of next-generation firewalls
An evolution of the traditional firewall, the Next Generation Firewall has better security functions and features, that is, more advanced and capable of responding to sophisticated intrusion attempts by cyber criminals.
Let’s look at them in detail.
Let’s look at them in detail.
- Deep packet inspection: compared to the traditional firewall, NGFW inspects higher-order traffic at TCP/IP communication layers, including the application layer.
This makes it possible to analyze and understand how the application in question operates on the traffic in both directions, thus gaining insight into predictable user behavior and more easily and reliably detecting malware hidden in seemingly normal traffic.
- Intrusion detection and prevention system: an NGFW ensures greater efficiency than the traditional firewall in detecting and preventing cyber attacks.
In-depth analysis of traffic allows for the detection of suspicious patterns and/or behavior so that what is apparent as a threat, whether known or unknown, can be blocked.
- TLS/SSL inspection: the TLS/SSL protocol is the most widely used protocol for current network traffic, and the Next Generation Firewall detects, decrypts, and inspects all traffic encrypted with that protocol, thereby being able to detect and block inherent threats intended to have detrimental effects on the affected company.
- Integration with threat intelligence platforms: NGFWs can integrate with external threat intelligence platforms, which aggregate data from multiple sources to provide a more detailed view of threats.
Possessing more information about dangers to dodge means making more informed decisions and reacting effectively and quickly to emerging threats.
- User Identification: in addition to predicting user behavior, a Next Generation Firewall allows network activity to be associated with specific users, as well as where they connect from, enabling it to play ahead and monitor suspicious users.
Types of NGFW
Going beyond functionality, in their differences we can consider three different types of Next Generation Firewalls: hardware, virtual, and cloud-based.
Hardware NGFWs are physical devices useful for local deployment, thus deployed mostly in data centers and other use cases that require specific physical equipment. Virtual NGFWs are software-based and run on virtual machines.
While they remain tied to the organization’s infrastructure and constrained to the processing power of the hardware from which they originate, they are tools characterized by flexibility and scalability, so they are ideal compared to hardware NGFWs themselves for virtualized, cloud-based services and apps. Designed to protect cloud-native environments (such as the Virtual Private Cloud, remote users, and distributed networks) with centralized security management, cloud-based NGFWs provide third-party firewall services from the cloud, enabling them to protect traffic that does not pass through a traditional data center. The evolution of technology and the rapid spread of artificial intelligence has generated more advanced cyber threats, but also appropriate defense tools.
One such tool is the proactive NGFW that leverages machine learning.
Introduced by Palo Alto Networks, it provides proactive, real-time, online zero-day protection by being able to identify variants of known and unknown attacks.
It also provides as well as comprehensive device visibility and behavioral anomaly detection.
Because of their nature, therefore, they have also been referred to as AI-firewalls.
Hardware NGFWs are physical devices useful for local deployment, thus deployed mostly in data centers and other use cases that require specific physical equipment. Virtual NGFWs are software-based and run on virtual machines.
While they remain tied to the organization’s infrastructure and constrained to the processing power of the hardware from which they originate, they are tools characterized by flexibility and scalability, so they are ideal compared to hardware NGFWs themselves for virtualized, cloud-based services and apps. Designed to protect cloud-native environments (such as the Virtual Private Cloud, remote users, and distributed networks) with centralized security management, cloud-based NGFWs provide third-party firewall services from the cloud, enabling them to protect traffic that does not pass through a traditional data center. The evolution of technology and the rapid spread of artificial intelligence has generated more advanced cyber threats, but also appropriate defense tools.
One such tool is the proactive NGFW that leverages machine learning.
Introduced by Palo Alto Networks, it provides proactive, real-time, online zero-day protection by being able to identify variants of known and unknown attacks.
It also provides as well as comprehensive device visibility and behavioral anomaly detection.
Because of their nature, therefore, they have also been referred to as AI-firewalls.
Benefits of NGFWs.
Here’s why you need them
From what has been outlined so far, it is evident that an NGFW is a must-have tool for enterprise security today.
After all, the benefits that Next Generation Firewalls provide are as diverse as they are obvious.
First, they provide advanced protection from cyber threats, preventing intrusions and detecting malicious traffic.
A second prominent aspect concerns simplified network architecture, because by combining the functionality of multiple devices and appliances in a single platform, they reduce the complexity of the network infrastructure.
Third important benefit concerns support for regulatory compliance obligations, as an NGFW blocks unauthorized users from accessing sensitive resources within the network.
A requirement relevant to current regulations regarding privacy and data protection, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation. In the face of an environment in which both the quantity and the quality of offensives brought by cyber criminals continue to increase, with advanced malware knocking out the use of a traditional firewall, the Next Generation Firewall is a tool that every type of business needs.
Combining effectiveness and simplicity, while facilitating the development of an established security operations center, is both an advantage and the reason why an NGFW should not be dispensed with.
After all, the benefits that Next Generation Firewalls provide are as diverse as they are obvious.
First, they provide advanced protection from cyber threats, preventing intrusions and detecting malicious traffic.
A second prominent aspect concerns simplified network architecture, because by combining the functionality of multiple devices and appliances in a single platform, they reduce the complexity of the network infrastructure.
Third important benefit concerns support for regulatory compliance obligations, as an NGFW blocks unauthorized users from accessing sensitive resources within the network.
A requirement relevant to current regulations regarding privacy and data protection, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation. In the face of an environment in which both the quantity and the quality of offensives brought by cyber criminals continue to increase, with advanced malware knocking out the use of a traditional firewall, the Next Generation Firewall is a tool that every type of business needs.
Combining effectiveness and simplicity, while facilitating the development of an established security operations center, is both an advantage and the reason why an NGFW should not be dispensed with.
How to choose the best option
While the obvious advantages make NGFW one of the necessary tools for enterprise security, it is not easy to choose the best option as there are some situations where hardware limitations hold back the effectiveness of NGFW.
A game changer has been the surge in user mobility along with the spread of the cloud. In order for an NGFW to pay off in terms of security, it is necessary for traffic to pass through an organization’s data center, although to avoid slowdowns, Internet traffic must be routed locally.
Another aspect to consider is related to the encryption of web traffic, which is dominant today, and to perform TLS/SSL inspection forces the NGFW to use built-in proxy capabilities, which, by performing inspection at the software level instead of the chip level, scales down performance and penalizes the user experience.
On the other hand, however, bypassing inspection means that about 85 percent of attacks would go undetected, thus generating enormous damage to the affected companies.
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A game changer has been the surge in user mobility along with the spread of the cloud. In order for an NGFW to pay off in terms of security, it is necessary for traffic to pass through an organization’s data center, although to avoid slowdowns, Internet traffic must be routed locally.
Another aspect to consider is related to the encryption of web traffic, which is dominant today, and to perform TLS/SSL inspection forces the NGFW to use built-in proxy capabilities, which, by performing inspection at the software level instead of the chip level, scales down performance and penalizes the user experience.
On the other hand, however, bypassing inspection means that about 85 percent of attacks would go undetected, thus generating enormous damage to the affected companies.
Want us to guide you through further insights?
Contact us or find out about our services
