How Secure is pfSense?
pfSense is an open source firewall and router operating system based on FreeBSD. It has a very active community with plenty of support forums, wikis, and documentation to help you learn how to use it. Security is one of pfSense’s main features giving you the ability to monitor traffic in real-time for malicious activity or policy violations. With pfSense you can also setup virtual LANs (VLAN), configure a local area network (LAN), set up a wireless access point, share Internet connections using either a DSL modem or cable modem, and more!
How Secure is pfSense?
pfSense uses a firewall to protect your network with rules. OpenVPN encrypts traffic between the client and server, while VPN pass through protects you at public places like airports or coffee shops since it encrypts data twice (in addition to using its own encryption layer). The pfSense packet filter is very powerful and lets you create your own rules for blocking traffic.
You can make your pfSense more secure by applying patches, update the OS regularly and change the default firewall rules to only allow necessary ports for each service you are running on pfSense. For example, if you don’t use SSH then turn off that port or at least disable root login over ssh since it is a very common attack target. You should also keep up with best practices like changing all default passwords, using strong passphrases/passwords (which includes any accounts created during initial setup), etc..
Security features:
- IPsec VPN: pfSense can encrypt data between two locations (e.g., a branch and headquarter) using IPsec or LInux KIWY(SSH).
- SSLVPN: Secure access to the pfSense web interface with SSL encryption, username/password login support. This is very common on DSL modems for remote administration of home routers but also useful if your network doesn’t provide Internet at all such as in an enterprise environment or school campus where you may need restricted websites like Facebook depending on policy restrictions.
- Packet Capturing & Monitoring: Monitor traffic in real-time via Ethernet sniffer, Wireshark , tcpdump command line tool, etc… can view statistics about TCP connections, filter protocols or specific ports.
- Remote Access VPN: Remote access to your pfSense router or firewall is not required for most users, but if you want the ability to remotely connect then enable it.
- Secure Shell (SSH): pfSense allows you to securely connect for remote administration via SSH, which is the standard way of remotely administering Linux systems and many other network devices. This can be especially useful when your LAN goes down since it will prevent attackers from being able to access the system through normal means such as Web-based login pages by requiring a username/password before granting full terminal shell privileges. If you are at home running Internet on pfSense then consider using OpenVPN instead since service providers may restrict SSH if they notice too much activity coming from your IP address or other suspicious behavior that could indicate someone attempting an attack against them.(or sharing illegal files over FTP)
- Firewall rules: The firewall rules are very powerful, but allow only necessary traffic to pass through the pfSense. For example if you don’t use FTP then turn off that port or at least disable root login over ftp since it is very common attack target by hackers and crackers.
- Proxies: Proxy support for web browser traffic.
- Intrusion Detection System (IDS): IDS feature can monitor network activities and detect if a malicious activity is occurring, e.g., port scans or DoS attack attempts. This requires a subscription to a service that provides real-time alerts when attacks are detected by the IDS system such as at Snort . However you have to be careful because it only detects but does not prevent intrusion so attackers could still access your system using an exploit if they discover any vulnerabilities in pfSense itself without being detected until much later.(or after you get hacked)
- Traffic Shaper: Limit bandwidth usage based on user/groups, IP address ranges, protocols, etc… It lets you set limits including
- Logging and Reporting: pfSense stores logs of all firewall rules so you can see what traffic was allowed or blocked such as by an attacker who may be trying to exploit known vulnerabilities in software running on your system. You should also keep up with best practices like changing all default passwords, using strong passphrases/passwords (which includes any accounts created during initial setup), etc…(see security features)
- Protection against DDOS: pfSense has a DoS protection option built into it that is designed to reduce the impact of DDoS attacks against its interface. It provides state-based firewalling, which means it allows tracking and limiting of connections. It includes a scheduler that enables you to set the time when each filter rule applies.(this is good if your Internet connection has limited bandwidth but can still be overloaded with DDOS traffic)
How does it Compare to Other Software?
pfSense is a great alternative to other software like Cisco or Palo Alto Security. It can be used as an all-in-one security solution and you’ll only need the hardware (like any normal router).
How does it compare to cisco and palo alto?
pfSense offers similar features but at a fraction of the cost, especially when licensing fees are added in for those expensive commercial firewalls from companies like Cisco or Palo Alto. For example, pfSense uses VPN pass through which encrypts traffic twice(once with its own encryption layer) as compared to most paid firewalls where they use one encryption layers such as SSL/TLS or IPsec; this means that your data will be encrypted once by pfSense and once by the VPN.
pfSense offers flexibility, portability (can run on a flash drive), ease of use (simple installer), lots of community support(forums, wikis) and free software which is open source. It also offers granular control over traffic for enterprise environments with options like: bandwidth limits per service or user/group quotas. In addition, it offers a web interface for easy configuration and administration.
pfSense is more of an enterprise solution whereas Cisco or Palo Alto are designed specifically with any size environment in mind from small businesses to large enterprises. They have the ability to handle big workloads but can be expensive as mentioned above due to costly licensing fees which you do not need with pfSense (as long as your hardware supports it). Lastly, they both offer “lite” versions so that you don’t have to use their full featured firewalls if you only require basic features such as content filtering/monitoring (and even those feature-sets will cost money on top of what’s already paid for the firewall itself). As a result, either option would work depending on your requirements and budget.
The Future of pfSense in The World of Cybersecurity
pfSense is a great open source software firewall solution that offers enterprise-grade features with its free version. It has been around for years and it’s still actively developed so you know the product will still be supported in the future which means security updates won’t stop anytime soon.
In conclusion, pfSense is not just another open source project; this network security solution can compete with other commercial firewalls out there such as Cisco or Palo Alto Security without breaking your bank account because they offer their paid versions of these products if needed but even those licenses don’t come close to what we pay monthly/yearly for most broadband Internet connections!
