Firewalls provide a vital layer of protection to your organization. They protect the network perimeter against cyber threats and block access to hazardous websites.

They use either stateless or tasteful traffic monitoring methods. Tasteful firewalls can monitor data flow but are limited to tracking layers 2-4 of the OSI model.

1. Security

Firewalls provide a layer of security between an IT environment and the Internet or other external networks. They filter incoming and outgoing traffic based on ports, protocols, and the source and destination IP address. They also offer several features, including packet filtering, network and port address translations, stateless inspection, and VPN support.

A traditional firewall, also known as a perimeter firewall, operates primarily at the network protocol level and inspects the ports of incoming and outgoing data packets to determine whether they are authorized to enter the network. They typically do not check the content of those packets and, as such, cannot protect against advanced cyber-attacks.

Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) utilize many of the same features as traditional firewalls but go a long way toward addressing advanced security threats. NGFWs have advanced security features, such as application awareness and context-aware access control, which enable organizations to view packets through proper context while setting application-specific rules. They also have an intrusion prevention system (IPS), which actively blocks intrusions and blacklists the associated IP addresses.

As a result, NGFWs can significantly improve a business’s security and help it cope with modern cyberattacks. However, it’s essential to understand your business’s security needs before deciding on a firewall type. For example, how much latency can your IT environment afford to introduce?

2. Management

Traditional firewalls operate on a basic deny/allow model. This means that if they check an application that doesn’t fit with a set of pre-defined rules, the firewall will automatically block access to it. However, this approach does not offer the granular degrees of control businesses need to keep up with new and advanced cyber threats.

NGFWs, on the other hand, offer a wide range of capabilities that can help keep your network safe. These include stateless and tasteful inspection, packet filtering, and a VPN. They also have an integrated IPS, which provides more visibility into the network by identifying and detecting network-based attacks.

These features ensure that only approved applications get through the network and all users have a secure connection. Moreover, NGFWs can inspect encrypted traffic, overcoming encryption-based malware delivery and command and control communications used by cybercriminals.

Another important feature of NGFWs is the capability to detect and prevent advanced malware, including polymorphic attacks and A Pts. They can also perform intrusion prevention based on signature-based analysis. This helps to keep malware away from your network by preventing it from exploiting vulnerabilities. 

Lastly, they also can protect your organization from external threats through sandboxing and advanced emerging threat detection. This is why NGFWs are sometimes called UTMs (unified threat management). In addition to these capabilities, many have an open architecture that makes it easier for you to customize and extend their functionality.

3. Performance

A traditional firewall’s performance is limited by its ability to monitor the state of packets that enter or exit a network. The firewall examines the information in each packet and determines if it is a threat to the network based on the contents of the packet. If the firewall determines it is, it will deny or block access to the packet. The firewall will also consider whether the packet is a part of a session, which is important to prevent hackers from taking advantage of sessions to gain entry into a business.

A newer generation firewall (NGFW) is a security multi-tool incorporating IPS, antivirus and malware prevention, deep packet inspection, VPN support, and more. These capabilities allow NGFWs to protect businesses from threats not confined to ports and protocols, differentiating them from traditional firewalls.

A traditional firewall operates at layers two through four of the OSI model and can use either a stateless or a tasteful method of monitoring traffic. In the former, the firewall checks each packet of data to determine whether or not it is a threat by considering information such as the source and destination IP address, the destination port, and the type of protocol being used. A tasteful firewall fully knows the session and checks each packet to determine its status.

4. Cost

Traditional firewalls are a barrier between a network’s trusted internal system and an untrusted external one, like the Internet. They use a set of rules to accept, reject, or route data traffic based on ports and protocols. Some also include Network Address Translation (NAT) functionality to hide an internal device’s actual address and make internal resources publicly accessible.

IT professionals have many options for selecting the right hardware box for their networks, with budget limitations and security team skills often being significant factors. The throughput requirements of a network will also play a role, with larger hardware boxes typically costing more than smaller ones.

A back-and-forth between IT designers and hackers has spurred the development of more brilliant firewall technology, which extends data control to the application level. These next-generation firewalls, or NGFW, can detect and stop advanced cyber threats by inspecting the content of packets, not just their packet headers.

Unlike UTMs, which work to secure the networks of SMBs, NGFW can protect networks of all sizes from sophisticated attacks by combining traditional firewall capabilities such as packet filtering and tasteful inspection with other security features such as threat intelligence and a degree of mobile device management. This enables them to keep up with advanced cyber-attacks while providing organizations the visibility and context to make better decisions.