Firewalls

Next Generation Firewall

Firewalls have long been the first line of defence for any network. The evolution of firewall technology had been slow until the concept of Unified Threat Management (UTM) appeared around 2005 and then Next Generation Firewalls took hold.

UTM (a term generally coined by IDC) looked at replacing multiple security functions such as firewall, intrusion prevention, anti-virus, anti-spam, content filtering, etc., with a single appliance that is easier to deploy and manage.

Next Gen Firewalls have built on the UTM firewall concept by also providing application specific visibility and control capabilities, versus just traditional layer 4 protection.

This firewall evolution has accelerated due to the shift towards web-based delivery models such as SaaS. Attacks can be buried in seemingly safe web-based applications meaning that a deeper inspection of application content is needed to ensure protection is maintained.

The Sophos UTM firewall solution is a great example providing complete security from the network firewall to endpoint anti-virus in a single modular application.

Palo Alto Networks is another vendor driving the Next Gen Firewall market with a comprehensive solution that allows you to enforce security based on a combination of applications, users and content.

Each of the solutions has their own strengths – choosing the right option depends on your network architecture, the environment you operate in and your security needs.

For a more detailed look at what would work best for you, and a customised demonstration, contact us now.