How Next-Generation Firewalls Improve Network Visibility and Monitoring

NGFWs can detect and intercept malware that has made it into the network by identifying Command and Control traffic. This helps to protect data from harmful threats that can cause data loss or even a complete disaster.

NGFWs use deep-packet inspection to analyze incoming packets at the application layer, which traditional firewalls cannot do. Combined with intrusion prevention and security automation capabilities, they can be more effective at stopping modern cyberattacks.

Real-time Threat Monitoring

A next-generation firewall (NGFW) does everything a traditional firewall does but also performs packet inspection and application layer data examination. This allows it to identify and block advanced threats such as phishing and ransomware and perform unified threat management functions. NGFWs are available in hardware appliances, as software deployed on a virtual server, or as a cloud-based service. 

Typical network firewalls analyze and block traffic based on characteristics such as source IP address, destination IP/network address, protocol, or port numbers. While this can reduce the number of threats that reach your organization, it also limits visibility. It imposes unnecessary restrictions on the use of applications (e.g., blocking Twitter prevents the social media team from posting updates).

Firewalls with deep packet inspection examine data at higher-order TCP/IP communication layers and apply intrusion prevention systems (IPS), antimalware, and sandboxing to detect sophisticated attacks that use malware, DNS poisoning, or other attack vectors. They also perform granular traffic segmentation and policy enforcement aligned with security policies.

A next-generation firewall features with threat intelligence features the activities of IPS, antimalware, and sandboxing threat intelligence to provide more accurate real-time detection of unknown, zero-day attacks. Threat intelligence feeds are updated daily and include payload-based signatures that NGFWs can match against to detect new attacks quickly.

Real-time Network Visibility

While a traditional firewall can only track where a packet is coming from and where it’s going, NGFWs monitor every inch of your network to keep track of threats as they move around. They have more and better resources (CPU, memory) to dive deep into data packets and dissect what’s in them to determine if it is good or bad.

The latest next-generation firewalls operate up to Layer 7 of the OSI model (the application layer). That means a firewall can see not just individual IP packets but entire HTTP transactions, for example. This level of visibility allows a firewall to detect malware and block attacks before they cause any damage.

NGFWs are also designed to work with external threat intelligence and deep learning to enhance their ability to spot even the most sophisticated attacks. For example, some use artificial intelligence (AI)-based security platform called Neural-X to detect anomalous behavior and stop threats before they even reach the network.

The new business environment requires a more complex network architecture with multiple data centers, cloud storage, and international mobile workers demanding fast access to critical apps. Visibility provides the ability to understand how these factors impact your bandwidth use and formulate a quality of service strategy. It can also help pinpoint the source of problems, minimizing downtime.

Real-time Network Monitoring

The most effective way to protect your business against threats is to stop them before they enter your network. NGFWs deliver the in-depth network traffic visibility required to identify and block malicious code, supply chain attacks, account takeover attempts, data leaks, and more.

While traditional firewalls filter packets at a lower level of the OSI protocol stack, NGFW solutions operate up to layer seven and can inspect the contents of every data stream. This allows for more granular policy control and enables security teams to incorporate identity and machine identity into their security policies, a crucial part of any zero-trust strategy.

NGFWs are also responsible for implementing network segmentation, the foundation of an effective enterprise network architecture. By separating sensitive and non-sensitive applications, networks, and services, NGFWs can prevent threats from moving laterally throughout the network and causing costly disruptions.

For this reason, many businesses choose to deploy an NGFW as part of a cloud-based network protection solution, such as Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS). By eliminating the need for onsite hardware appliances and maintenance, FWaaS makes monitoring and protecting networks from advanced threats that bypass conventional security controls easier. This gives you the insight and flexibility to be proactive instead of reactive, preventing network disruptions before they occur. For example, knowing in real-time that a network latency issue affects end-customer experience will let you nip problems before they become widespread.

Real-time Network Traffic Analysis

Network traffic analysis is one of the best tools to help identify anomalies and suspicious activity that could indicate a security threat. In addition, it allows engineers, operators, and administrators to spot and fix problems before they become more significant issues like DDoS attacks or broken infrastructure components.

Traditionally, firewalls inspect traffic using packet filtering. They look at the source IP/network address, destination IP/network address, port numbers, and protocol types to determine whether a packet can go through. But this type of inspection is limited because it does not look at the contents of a package. In addition, it does not examine encrypted traffic without requiring extra hardware.

A next-generation firewall (NGFW) goes beyond traditional packet filtering with deep packet inspection. In addition to inspecting data at layers 3 and 4, NGFWs can also look at the contents of a packet’s body, detecting threats that use recognizable signatures in their attack vectors.

NGFWs can be deployed as standalone appliances, virtual machines, and cloud services. They can be used as a replacement for stateful firewalls or in combination with other security solutions to form a unified threat management (UTM) gateway. They can also be integrated with software-based applications and cloud infrastructure to protect against advanced threats, including the latest stealthy application-layer attacks. They are a vital component of any Zero Trust strategy and can detect threats not yet recognizable by other security solutions.