What is a next generation firewall (NGFW)? 


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What is a next generation firewall (NGFW)? 

A next generation firewall, or NGFW, monitors and analyzes traffic at the packet level. It provides application-level visibility to detect application layer protocols.

This means that it can see what applications are running on your network and where they are being used – if you want this information!

A next generation firewall also has deep inspection capabilities, which means that it can inspect all aspects of traffic for malware such as viruses or spyware.

How do Next-Generation Firewalls work?

Next-Generation Firewalls work by monitoring and inspecting traffic at the packet level. This means that it can see what applications are running on your network, where they are being used, and if you choose to have this information – inspect every aspect of their behavior.

A next generation firewall also has deep inspection capabilities, which means that it can do things like detect malware such as viruses or spyware.

Next-Generation Firewalls work by monitoring and inspecting packets for malicious activity such as viruses or spyware.

Compared to a traditional firewall, a NGFW is able to monitor all aspects of application’s behavior, providing more security than ever before!

What does Next Generation mean? What makes them different from traditional firewalls? Compared to old-school firewalls, next-generation firewalls are much more capable. These advanced devices can inspect all aspects of a packet, which means that they’re able to monitor every single byte for viruses and spyware while also giving you visibility into the behavior of your network traffic, so if there’s anything suspicious, you’ll know about it right away!

What is a traditional firewall? Compared to old-school firewalls, a NGFW has many new capabilities making them far better in almost any situation.

A traditional firewall does not have as deep inspection abilities compared with newer models like an NGFW – where they can audit everything from apps down to packets themselves, leading to increased security.

Next-Generation Firewall: The definition of Next-generation Firewall is a firewall that is capable of monitoring and inspecting traffic at the packet level.

The Benefits of a Next-Generation Firewall

Next-Generation Firewalls provide many benefits to businesses of all sizes and can give you peace of mind when it comes to the security of your network.

Some key features that a NGFW can give you are: real-time application visibility, granular device control over user access, deep packet inspection allowing malware detection from viruses or spyware in seconds instead of hours by looking for telltale signatures in data streams. These devices also work at high speeds even during heavy traffic periods, so there is no performance degradation on your end either!

They offer real-time application visibility, which means that you can see what applications are being used on your network, so if there is anything suspicious, you’ll know about it instantly and won’t have to wait for hours for results from a deep packet inspection (which allows malware detection).

Here are the key points:

  • Next-Generation Firewall monitors and inspects traffic at the packet level
  • Provides real-time application visibility which means that you can see what applications are being used on your network so if there is anything suspicious you’ll know about it instantly
  • Has deep inspection capabilities, meaning that they’re able to look for malware such as viruses or spyware in seconds instead of hours. This also works during heavy traffic periods without any performance degradation.

A next generation firewall has many benefits including granular device control over user access & providing increased security with things like real-time application visibility! They work fast even when high volumes of network traffic is present, leading to performance issues either!

What to look for in a Next-Generation Firewall

When comparing different kinds of Next-Generation Firewalls, it’s important to consider your business needs. This means comparing costs to benefits of different vendors suited for your specific organization.

There are several different kinds of Next-Generation Firewalls, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. There’s no single best choice for every organization. The first step is to understand the differences between vendors that offer next generation firewalls as well as how they will benefit your business specifically.

The following list briefly outlines some things you should look for when comparing different types of NGFWs:

Look at what protocols it supports (some support only IPv4), others include IPSec VPN capabilities, still others include IDS/IPS or WAF capabilities too. Match these features against your needs before making any decisions on which product to purchase.

Comparing NGFWs

NGFW vs Traditional Firewalls

Traditional firewalls are unable to monitor and inspect traffic at the packet level, making them less advanced than NGFWs.

An old-school firewall does not have as deep inspection abilities compared with newer models like an NGFW – where they can audit everything from apps down to packets themselves, leading to increased security.

NGFW vs IDS/IPS Systems

IDS/IPS systems only protect you at a network layer which means that if any malware gets through your traditional firewall, it will still be able to get past these devices too because they don’t look at data traveling across the wire (packets) so there is no protection against attacks or viruses once those packets hit your wired or wireless networks! An IPS will also require additional hardware to be installed, further increasing your costs.

As well, IDS/IPS systems are unable to provide granular device control over user access and have limited application visibility capabilities which means that you won’t see what applications a specific host is using on the network, so if there’s anything suspicious, you’ll know about it too late! This also limits them from providing protection against zero-day attacks since they don’t look at data traveling across wires (packets) in real-time as an NGFW does.

An IPS will require additional hardware components & increases total cost, whereas with Next-Generation Firewalls, this isn’t necessary because these devices can do everything together in one easy package making for significant savings not just traditional firewalls but IDS/IPS systems too!

NGFW vs WAFs

WAF devices are similar to an NGFW in a lot of ways, however they don’t have the same granular control over user access and application visibility capabilities which means that you won’t be able to see what apps are being used on your network so if there’s anything suspicious you’ll know about it at the last minute.

As well, while a Web Application Firewall can only protect against attacks at web-based applications & services – leaving other protocols like SMTP or FTP open for attack – Next-Generation Firewalls provide protection across all kinds of networks including wired LANs (Ethernet), wireless LANs (WiFi) as well as remote access SSL VPNs.

So an NGFW is able to protect your LAN & WAN against attacks (Layer-0 or Layer- – all the way up through applications at Layer- while a Web Application Firewall can only provide protection for web based apps and services leaving other less commonly used protocols open to attack!

NGFW vs Cloud Security Gateways

Cloud security gateways are very similar in nature, if not even more restrictive than traditional firewalls, where they limit users’ access to specific websites by company policy. They do this by categorizing known sites as either good or bad with no room for adjustment, so you won’t be allowed access to any site that hasn’t been preapproved means it limits employee productivity drastically!

With an NGFW, you can easily create user-based policies and exceptions on the fly, letting users access any site they want without preapproval, making for a much more productive workforce overall.

Cloud security gateways also only provide protection at Layer- while firewalls like Next Generation Firewalls go above & beyond by protecting against attacks across all kinds of networks, including wired LANs (Ethernet), wireless LANs (WiFi) as well as remote access SSL VPNs! So cloud security gateways are unable to protect your network in full, unlike with what an NGFW is able to do, so it’s not just enough that there be one firewall between your data center and the Internet – you need something powerful enough to protect against internal threats as well.

NGFW Pros & Cons: 

Pros – Protects against Layer- security risks, easy to manage user policies and exceptions for every individual within your organization; has application visibility capabilities so you’ll be able to see what applications a specific host is using on the network, which helps prevent zero-day attacks! You won’t need additional hardware components or staff training because these devices are configured out of the box making installation quick & simple. As well, NGFWs have an extensive array of integrations with other platforms today like firewalls, IPS/IDS systems, VPN concentrators and more.

Cons – Since they’re not designed specifically for web traffic (web proxies), their ability to inspect encrypted protocols like SSL/TLS is limited. They also have a smaller market share than traditional firewalls which means that there’s less support for integrations and customizations overall – but this isn’t too much of an issue because most Next-Generation Firewall vendors provide APIs for programming integration options so you’re still able to get what you need out of them, it just might not be as simple.

NGFW Capabilities List

  • Perform deep packet inspection to intelligently decide what packets are allowed.
  • Block and/or take action for a particular traffic match using an integrated Intrusion Prevention System.
  • Block or quarantine traffic that does not match the security policy.
  • Provide advanced visibility and control over applications, users, devices & threats to better optimize network performance while minimizing downtime.
  • Integrate with existing Security Information & Event Manager (SIEM) solutions for correlation of all events in a single console, reducing workloads on staff members by providing a holistic view into their enterprise environment.
  • Can be deployed either as an inline solution where packets are intercepted before being released from your network – or they can function as a tap which captures packets off wire between hosts without impacting communications at all! Organizations have struggled with traditional firewalls when it came to allowing access to business-critical applications like cloud services, but Generation Firewalls solve this problem with ease by having the ability to create granular application policies that can be used as exceptions for users allowing them access whenever they need it.
  • Deployed within your organization’s DMZ, NGFWs provide an additional layer of protection between servers & clients and outside threats, which means you’ll never have to worry about cyber-attacks or data tampering again.
  • Offer SSL inspection capabilities so organizations are able to protect their networks from encrypting web traffic and other forms of malware like ransomware with a single solution! This is something cloud security gateways cannot do on their own without requiring extra components making Next-Generation Firewalls much more powerful overall compared to cloud-based alternatives.
  • NGFWs also come equipped with high availability features such as redundant hardware appliances, active/active configurations, and built-in load balancing capabilities – this ensures that your organization will have a stable network infrastructure even if there is an outage of one of your appliances.
  • NGFWs are easy to install & manage because they can be configured out of the box, making them ideal for organizations who don’t want to spend extra resources on staff training or additional hardware components when it comes time to deploy these devices within their data centers. As well, NGFWs offer extensive application visibility over web applications like cloud services which were difficult (if not impossible) with traditional firewalls without requiring any type of endpoint agent installation!

Conclusion

If you want to secure your organization from the latest cyber threats, it’s time for a change. The next generation firewall is here and ready to take on any challenge!

NGFWs are able to provide SSL inspection capabilities so organizations can protect their networks from encrypting web traffic and other forms of malware like ransomware with one single solution.

They also come equipped with high availability features such as redundant hardware appliances, active/active configurations, built-in load balancing capabilities, which ensures that your network infrastructure will have stability even if there was an outage in one appliance.

If you’re looking for security software that will be easy for staff members to set up and manage out of the box without costing extra resources, then Next-Generation Firewalls might just be what you need!

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