Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)

In the early days of the Internet, a firewall provided network security by filtering traffic based on service ports and IP addresses. With the increasing complexity of services and diversification of cyberattacks, companies had to deploy multiple appliances such as web proxy server, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), VPN Server etc. to defend their networks.

In the year 2003, International Data Group (IDC) named the new 'all-in-one' firewalls launched by a few network security players as Unified Threat Management (UTM) Firewall. Because Virtual Private Network (VPN) functionality is commonly built-in to the firewall, the appliances are widely known as UTM VPN Firewall.
 
 

A UTM VPN firewall typically possesses, not limited to, the following features:

 
Feature
Stateful packet inspection firewall
  Feature
Web filtering that blocks website URLs based on content classifications
  Feature
Antivirus/anti-malware to detect and block virus hidden in web or email traffic
Feature
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) to detect & block malicious traffic
  Feature
Application Control to manage and block traffic based on application behaviours
  Feature
Antispam spam filtering to filter junk emails & phishing attempts
Feature
Quality of Service (QoS) for traffic flow enhancements & bandwidth management
  Feature
Static/dynamic and policy routing capability
  Feature
VPN services for site-to-site connectivity and mobile VPN for road warriors
 
Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)
Email/ Antispam filtering
Email/ Antispam Filtering
Firewall
Firewall
VPN
VPN
Gateway AV Antispyware
Gateway Antimalware
IPS
IPS
QoS/ Bandwidth management
QoS/ Bandwidth Management
Web Security
Web Security
Routing capabilities
Routing Capabilities
Next Generation Firewalls (NGFW)
While UTM VPN firewalls provide overall network security with advanced protection options to the corporate and Small-and-medium Businesses (SMB), modern firewall manufacturers are integrating and enhancing even more security intelligent services into the firewall devices. The new breed of firewall is known as the Next Generation Firewall (NGFW).
 
NGFW exhibits major improvements in the coordination & communication between the multiple services that UTM firewalls consolidated. NGFW makers also enhance and extend the capability by leveraging AI and cloud computing resources.
 
NGFW makers promote a centralized dashboard or pane of glass to unify the local and online services and give the system administrator a clear and concise picture of network security.
 
 

Characteristics of
NGFW includes

 

1

Real-time, automated communication between services allows for devices to be isolated & quarantined after an incident until IT can respond
 

2

Cloud-based Sandbox technology provides quarantine & detonation of potentially harmful files
 

3

Everything from security policies, UTM features, user groups, access control lists, WiFi etc. can be managed through a single dashboard
 

4

Maintaining network performance even with multiple complex security services operating in tandem is key to NGFW
 

5

Integrated Intrusion Prevention with deep packet scanning, e.g. SSL Deep Inspection
 
ITWin provides a wide range of UTM VPN Firewalls and Next Generation Firewalls (NGFW) from Fortinet, SonicWall, Cisco, WatchGuard, Sangfor and Palo Alto.
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