When selecting an NGFW, finding the right balance between security capabilities and performance is vital. NGFWs often incorporate AI-powered threat intelligence to boost their effectiveness at detecting threats.
Unlike stateful firewalls, which inspect only the IP and TCP sections of data packets, NGFWs can examine the application layer up to OSI level 7 for malicious activity. They also often include web application firewalls (WAF) to protect web applications against cyber threats.
Real-Time Malware Detection
Unlike stateful firewall devices that rely on recognizable signatures or behavior patterns, next-generation firewalls are designed to recognize threats based on the contents of every packet. It gives them much more network visibility than traditional firewalls and allows them to block new and stealthy attacks that can evade detection by other types of security systems.
NGFWs are also typically equipped with advanced malware detection capabilities. They can use sandbox analysis and other techniques to inspect malicious files and identify malware that may have escaped signature-based detection. They can also leverage threat intelligence feeds to identify and stop new and evolving cyberattack campaigns.
NGFWs often include a helpful feature known as a web application firewall (WAF). A WAF functions like an x-ray machine for websites, decrypting HTTPS traffic between a web browser and server and detecting suspicious activity. It reduces the likelihood that malicious code will escape from a vulnerable server and infect endpoints. In a live ransomware test, WAF prevented the malware from corrupting 92% of all files with a false positive rate of 14%.
Threat Intelligence
NGFWs inspect network packets like airport X-ray machines for suspicious patterns or activity. They also analyze the content of these packets to stop sophisticated malware and other stealthy types of attacks. They also offer increased network visibility by analyzing encrypted traffic.
The best NGFWs are living systems that use intelligence from a broad set of external sources to improve blocking decisions and optimize operations. This threat intelligence helps to give security decision-makers context on the tactics that attack actors and adversaries are using against their organizations.
Unlike traditional firewalls that recognize threats based on recognizable signatures, some NGFW firewall can detect Zero Trust attacks by analyzing the contents of each packet to find and stop evasive types of malware, including zero-day attacks. These NGFWs also leverage inline deep learning to move beyond structured machine learning and analyze data more like humans.
Some NGFWs have built-in high availability that allows two firewalls to operate simultaneously and share the processing load in case one fails or is shut down unexpectedly. This type of redundancy ensures uninterrupted service.
Application Control
Application control is a security feature that allows customers to set policies more granularly for specific applications. It provides additional layered security beyond what a traditional firewall can do. For example, a customer can create a policy to allow the use of Facebook during working hours and block its use at all other times.
This type of granular control can prevent attacks by ensuring that the application is accessed in the proper context. In addition, it can help ensure that data is not being modified or corrupted by an unauthorized user. It is crucial as more and more business data is being stored in the cloud.
Another critical advantage of next-generation firewalls is the ability to inspect traffic at multiple layers in the OSI model. It means that they can look at the actual contents of a packet and filter it based on application (rather than just layer 3 for the source and destination IP address). It gives them a more thorough data analysis, which can help detect a wide range of threats.
Application-Based Filtering
When a threat is detected, it must be instantly isolated from all devices on the network. NGFWs offer sandboxing capabilities integrated into the solution and can be performed in real-time to avoid the delays and limitations of using separate tools.
Unlike traditional firewalls, which only inspect data at OSI layers 2 through 4, NGFWs can see inside applications and traffic at Layer 7 (the application layer). They also allow granular policy control, allowing organizations to set access rules on an application-by-application basis.
The result is greater application visibility and security, protecting against the latest, stealthy threats that can evade traditional firewall solutions. NGFWs combine many modular security tools, such as stateful inspection, web application firewalls (WAF), intrusion prevention systems (IPS), anti-malware, and sandboxing, to create a comprehensive security framework that’s difficult for attackers to penetrate. They can be deployed on-site or in the cloud to secure distributed networks and remote users. They also offer scalability and ease of integration, providing faster ROI. Choose an NGFW compatible with your organization’s infrastructure and meet your security requirements.
Logging
Firewall logging is creating log files that record all activity that passes through your firewall. These log files can be invaluable for troubleshooting problems and identifying potential threats in your network. Firewall logging tools are programs that help you read and understand these logs.
Traditional firewalls perform stateful inspection of network traffic to filter and permit or deny access based on the source, destination, and port information contained in the packet. An NGFW expands on this functionality by offering application awareness, enabling it to match different types of network traffic with predefined applications and enforce granular zero-trustaccess control policies.
It also provides deep-packet inspection, which inspects data contained in a packet rather than just the packet header to detect malicious activity. Allows it to detect evasive attacks that attempt to bypass security rules applied at layers 3 and 4. Additionally, an NGFW can decrypt encrypted tunnel traffic and inspect its contents to prevent malware delivery and command and control communications. Finally, it can integrate IPS to scan for zero-day exploits in a network environment.
