According to a survey by Market Research Future, the global NGFW market is expected to grow to $4.69 billion by 2023. This is happening because the complexity of cyberattacks and hacking methods is driving more companies to choose next-generation firewalls than traditional firewalls with basic functions. Next-generation firewalls, equipped with adequate protection, will provide greater security for users.
What is a firewall?
A firewall is a network security device that monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic and decides whether to allow or block specific traffic based on a defined set of security rules.
Firewalls have been a first line of defense in network security for over 25 years. They establish a barrier between secure and controlled internal networks that can be trusted and untrusted outside networks, such as the Internet.
What is a next-generation firewall?
Firewalls have developed from the first packet-only firewalls to UTM devices in 2004 and today's next-generation firewalls.
A Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) is a real-time protection device between networks, capable of detecting deep traffic and blocking attacks. NGFW can provide users with effective security protection built into the application layer and help them conduct their business safely.
Why do I need a next-generation firewall?
As network protection becomes increasingly complex and the security situation progressively deteriorates, traditional firewalls are no longer able to deal with new network threats. The emergence of next-generation firewalls allows you to visualize threats outside your network, fully meeting users' network defense and management needs. The firewall will also become a factor in securing the network environment. The next-generation firewall is a must-have for businesses in today's network environment.
What does UTM mean?
Unified threat management (UTM) refers to when multiple security features or services are combined into a single device within the network.
Using UTM, users on your network are protected with several features, including:
Antivirus
Content filtering
Email and web filtering
Anti-spam and more.
UTM enables an organisation to consolidate its IT security services into a single device, potentially simplifying network protection. As a result, your business can monitor all security-related threats and activities through a single pane of glass. This gives you complete and simplified visibility into all elements of your security or wireless architecture.
Ideal features of a UTM solution
Antivirus
A UTM comes with antivirus software that can monitor your network, then detect and prevent viruses from damaging your system or connected devices. This is done by leveraging information in signature databases, which contain virus profiles, to check if someone is active within the system or trying to log in. Some of the threats that antivirus software within a UTM can stop include infected files, trojans, worms, spyware, and other malware.
Anti-malware
Unified threat management protects your network from malware by detecting and responding to it. A UTM can be preconfigured to detect known malware, filtering it from data streams and preventing it from penetrating the system. UTM can also be configured to detect new malware threats using heuristic analysis, which involves rules that analyze file behavior and characteristics. For example, if a program is designed to prevent a computer's camera from working properly, a heuristic approach can mark that program as malware.
Firewall
A firewall has the ability to scan incoming and outgoing traffic for viruses, malware, phishing attacks, spam, network intrusion attempts, and other cybersecurity threats. Because UTM firewalls scan both data entering and leaving the network, they can also prevent devices within the network from being used to spread malware to other networks that connect to it.
Intrusion prevention
A UTM system can provide an organization with intrusion prevention capabilities , which detects and prevents attacks. This feature is often referred to as an intrusion detection system (IDS) or intrusion prevention system (IPS). To identify threats, an IPS analyzes packets of data, looking for patterns known to exist in threats. When one of these patterns is recognized, the IPS stops the attack.
In some cases, an IDS will simply detect the dangerous data packet , and an IT team can then choose how to deal with the threat. The measures taken to stop the attack can be automated or performed manually. The UTM will also log the malicious event. These logs can then be analyzed and used to prevent other attacks in the future.
Web filtering
The web filtering feature of a UTM can prevent users from viewing specific websites or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). This is done by preventing users' browsers from loading pages from those sites on their device. You can configure web filters to target certain sites based on your organization's goals. For example, if you want to prevent employees from being distracted by certain social media sites, you can stop those sites from loading on your devices while they are connected to the network.
Data loss prevention
Data loss prevention achieved with a UTM appliance helps detect data breaches and exfiltration attempts and thus prevent them. To do this, the data loss prevention system monitors sensitive data, and when it identifies an attempt by an attacker to steal it, it blocks the attempt, thus protecting the data.
What are the features of next-generation firewalls?
The next-generation firewall not only includes all the features of traditional firewalls (packet filtering, state detection, NAT, VPN, etc.), but also provides additional advanced features such as application awareness, deep-packet inspection, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and external threat intelligence.
Application awareness: The ability to control information about connected applications for better control.
Deep packet inspection: An updated technology compared to the traditional firewall. Inspects the data in the details contained in the packages and takes action to ensure that the data is in the correct format.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Monitor malicious activity in the network and block it where it occurs.
About external threats: Detects and blocks malicious behavior.
Next Generation Firewall vs. Traditional Firewall: Who Wins?
A traditional firewall is a device that controls the flow of incoming or outgoing traffic within the network. While the NGFW can do much more than a traditional port or protocol inspection firewall and provides application-level inspection, intrusion prevention, and intelligence from outside the firewall.
The choice of an NGFW is proving to be the most popular in most cases:
Benefits of using a next-generation firewall
In addition, Deep Packet Inspection checks the data contained in the package, compares it to established criteria, and reassembles the package data to achieve a higher degree of inspection.
Finally, the next-generation firewall is an integrated solution that makes security, maintenance, updating and control infrastructure simpler, easier and more efficient, thereby reducing the burden on IT staff.
Sources
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