Best Tools to Use for Testing a Stateful Firewall
A firewall is a network security system designed to protect your internal network from external threats. A firewall can be stateful or stateless, and we will go over the difference between these two terms in this blog post. Stateful firewalls keep track of the connections that are opened and closed on your firewall for each device, whereas stateless firewalls do not keep track of connections.
So, what tools would you use to test the firewall? This is a question that many network architects and engineers ask themselves when they are tasked with the responsibility of designing, installing, or maintaining firewall systems. The answer depends on what firewall design you are trying to test. If it’s a stateful firewall then there are some specific tools that can help you better understand how the firewall will function in an operational environment.
Types of Firewall Penetration Testing Tools:
There are many kinds of Pentest Tools available but the most common ones used by hackers are as follows
i) firewall scanning tools
ii) firewall hacking tools
iii) firewall cracking tools
iv) firewall password guessing tools.
These Pentest Tools are used for finding vulnerabilities in firewall rules of a firewall system so that hackers can exploit these flaws to bypass the security protection of firewalls. If you find any vulnerability then immediately contact experts who can fix this flaw before it becomes public knowledge which could lead to your firewall being hacked by cybercriminals.
Utilities used for Testing
1) First off, there is the Netcat utility which is used for testing TCP and UDP protocols and sending data over both streams of connections. The firewall must allow the protocol that you are using to send and receive data over a network for this utility to work.
2) Next up, we have nmap which stands for “network mapper” and it’s an application that can be used for network exploration or security auditing.
3) However, when you are performing firewall testing on a stateless firewall then you will need to use different tools like for example: tcpdump which is used for network monitoring and packet capturing.
4)Wireshark can be used since it’s an open source tool that provides the ability to analyze thousands of protocols.
5) NetSim is a tool that allows you to simulate firewall rules and test firewall configuration.
6) FWcheck is a firewall stateful testing utility that can send firewall rules to the firewall and check if these are accepted or not. it is also able to send firewall rules as a response to firewall activity.
7) Total Web Scanner is a security scanner for web servers which can scan firewall rule sets and detect firewall related flaws. This scanner can check firewall configurations, identify firewall architectures and devices in use on the tested networks.
What are Pentest tools ?
Pentest tools are used to test firewalls. They are also known as firewall testing tools. These firewall testing tools are used to find firewall flaws. When a firewall is tested with firewall testing tools, firewall configuration errors are detected. Pentest tools can be used to test stateful firewalls and stateless firewalls.
Importance of firewall testing tools:
Firewall testing tools are very important for firewall administrators. These firewall testing tools can be used to test firewall configuration errors and flaws in firewall rule sets. Firewall testers use these firewalls testing tools to find out vulnerabilities in firewall designs. If a firewall is vulnerable then it should be immediately fixed or updated with new rules before being put into use.
Pentest tools are also useful for firewall penetration testing. Pen testers use firewall hacking tools to find firewall vulnerabilities and exploit these vulnerabilities so that they can bypass firewall protection systems. Firewall test results determine the security level of a firewall system in an organization or business network. If your firewall is found vulnerable then you should immediately hire experts for firewall testing.
How are firewall test results useful?
Firewall test reports provide detailed information about firewall vulnerabilities in your firewall system. If you hire experts for firewall penetration testing then they will provide a complete report on their findings after the completion of their security audit or penetration tests. You should use this report to fix these firewall vulnerabilities before putting your network into operation again. These vulnerability details help administrators and managers understand how much protection is actually provided by firewalls in an organization’s business networks, data centers, remote access points, branch offices etcetera depending upon where it has been deployed within the organization’s IT infrastructure architecture.
What firewall penetration testing tools are used to test firewalls?
Pentest tools can be divided into two categories: firewall hacking tools and firewall vulnerability scanning tools. Hackers use these firewalls testing tools for finding vulnerabilities in firewall systems so that they can exploit them easily. Firewall penetration testers use different types of pen testing tools like network security scanners, port scanners etcetera during their tests or audits on firewall rule sets. Different types of firewalls require different types of firewall penetration testing techniques which is why various types of pen tests exist today for this purpose.
Conclusion
Firewall testing is important for firewall administrators. Firewall testing tools are very useful for firewall penetration tests and firewall rule set audits or compliance checks. These firewall hacking tools can be used to find firewall vulnerabilities in a network, data center etcetera depending upon where it has been deployed within the organization’s IT infrastructure architecture.
Firewalls should always remain updated with new security threats, loopholes and flaws that hackers use today to bypass them so that they can provide maximum protection against modern day cyber attacks on your networks and business assets.
