30 Nov A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding NGFW Capabilities and Features
NGFWs build on traditional firewall capabilities to protect against advanced cyber threats. They must be able to inspect individual data packets, assess whether they align with set security policies, and detect encrypted VPN traffic.
Advanced features like IPS, application awareness, and threat intelligence integration are also necessary. Ensure your chosen NGFW integrates these components to make it a fully functioning, comprehensive security solution.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
A network intrusion prevention system (IPS) prevents threats from attacking a network by blocking malicious activity, often with automated actions. Unlike intrusion detection systems (IDS), which alert you to suspicious activity, an IPS is proactive, stopping attacks in progress and protecting your organization’s sensitive data.
An IPS uses signature-based detection to scan incoming data, looking for patterns and known attack vectors. It can also use anomaly-based detection, taking random samples of network traffic and looking for behavior that seems out of the norm.
Once a threat is detected, an IPS can automatically take action, closing access to the attacker or removing malicious content from files and emails. It can also prompt other security devices to act, such as updating firewall rules or redirecting attack traffic to a honeypot (a decoy asset that lures hackers into believing they’ve successfully breached the defenses).
Originally built and released as stand-alone appliances, IPS functionality has moved from dedicated solutions into integrated Next-Generation Firewalls and unified threat management (UTM) solutions. A common type of IPS is called a network-based intrusion prevention system (NIPS), which monitors the entire network and can be used with other monitoring tools for a complete view of an organization’s threat landscape. A wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) is similar but typically only monitors a company’s wireless networks for potential vulnerabilities.
Application Awareness
Application awareness is a key feature that differentiates NGFW capabilities from traditional firewalls. It allows for detailed traffic inspection and controls based on the type of content sent over the network rather than using traditional metrics like IP addresses or ports. This helps improve security, performance, and manageability.
For example, a company might use an instant messaging application for business purposes. Using application awareness, an NGFW can create an allowlist of acceptable applications and prevent access to any that aren’t on the list. This also reduces attack vectors by limiting the number of potential entry points to the company network.
Another way that NGFWs use application awareness is to examine HTTPS-encrypted tunnels to detect potential malware delivery or command and control traffic. This functionality enables an NGFW to perform deep packet inspection and decryption and is much more accurate than simply looking at the network protocol status.
Unlike traditional firewalls, most NGFWs also offer antivirus and malware protection that’s updated automatically. This minimizes attack vectors and protects against new and emerging threats. Additionally, many NGFWs include features that allow them to detect and handle ransomware and other zero-day attacks. This can help lower the risk of a company being subject to a ransomware threat by blocking access to a company’s files and data before it’s possible for an attacker to get their hands on them.
Threat Intelligence
Unlike traditional firewalls, which use signatures to detect malware attacks, NGFWs can advance malware detection. This allows them to examine suspicious files in a controlled and isolated environment, examining all aspects of the file to identify potential threats. Sandboxing technologies like Sangfor ZSand are often bundled with NGFW packages to help with this process.
This gives a more comprehensive picture of attacks, allowing defenders to respond more accurately and quickly. This helps organizations to avoid the disruption of downtime, which can cost companies up to $9,000 per minute.
Because hackers constantly develop new and more sophisticated methods for breaching networks, NGFWs have evolved to include advanced threat intelligence. This enables them to leverage indicators of compromise and connect the dots between different attack campaigns.
With threat intelligence, a company can understand not only what has been compromised but also how that has been compromised and the potential impact on their business. This is much more valuable than information that identifies an attack has occurred, such as malware hashes or malicious domains.
NGFWs allow businesses to manage all their network security systems from a single device. This simplifies the infrastructure and makes it easier for IT teams to implement new security strategies quickly and easily. This also helps to increase efficiency and reduce costs by reducing the time and effort required for manual updates.
User Authentication
An NGFW includes user authentication that lets you control who accesses your network and what they can do. This feature helps prevent data leaks and cyber-attacks, ensuring only authorized users can access sensitive information. It can be as simple as requiring a username and password or more complex, such as requiring a unique ID or a physical object to prove identity. Some NGFWs also include a web application firewall (WAF) that can be tested in CI/CD pipelines or deployed on-premises for a more comprehensive and accurate test of an application before it goes live.
The relationships between applications, ports, and protocols have become more complex as technology advances. Traditionally, traditional firewalls identified traffic based on 5-tuple information and denied or allowed access to programs not approved by the firewall. An NGFW uses deep content processing to identify the underlying applications and deliver more granular degrees of control.
With a more precise understanding of the types of threats, NGFWs can apply advanced security functions to prevent them. These include intrusion prevention systems, antivirus, antimalware, and sandboxing. They can also detect zero-day ransomware and block it before it spreads throughout your organization. In addition, they offer centralized management that simplifies the management of multiple security solutions across a distributed network.
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