What is the Difference between Traditional Firewalls and Next-Generation Firewalls?

A firewall is a network security system that inspects inbound and outbound traffic to filter and block unauthorized network connections. A firewall can be implemented on a computer, a server, or an entire network. The term ‘firewall’ comes from the idea of isolation by fire; it’s intended to keep one part of a network safe (the ‘ secure zone’) by keeping another part (the ‘ unsafe zone’) separate and unable to communicate with it. A traditional firewall uses packet-based inspection to identify malicious network traffic, such as Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) packets, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets, and IP address source verification. A next-generation firewall can also use these techniques for deeper inspection but integrates them into a wider suite of security capabilities. Let’s see what are the differences between traditional and next-generation firewalls:

What is a traditional firewall?

A traditional firewall is a network security system that inspects inbound and outbound traffic to filter and block unauthorized network connections. A firewall can be implemented on a computer, a server, or an entire network. The term ‘firewall’ comes from the idea of isolation by fire; it’s intended to keep one part of a network safe (the ‘ secure zone’) by keeping another part (the ‘ unsafe zone’) separate and unable to communicate with it. A traditional firewall uses packet-based inspection to identify malicious network traffic, such as Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) packets, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets, and IP address source verification. A next-generation firewall can also use these techniques for deeper inspection but integrates them into a wider suite of security capabilities.

What is a next-generation firewall?

A next-generation firewall is a network security system that inspects inbound and outbound traffic to filter and block unauthorized network connections. A firewall can be implemented on a computer, a server, or an entire network. The term ‘firewall’ comes from the idea of isolation by fire; it’s intended to keep one part of a network safe (the ‘ secure zone’) by keeping another part (the ‘ unsafe zone’) separate and unable to communicate with it. A next-generation firewall uses packet-based inspection as well as network-based monitoring and traffic analysis to identify malicious network traffic. Next-generation firewalls are typically deployed as an integrated security appliance or software-based solution. They provide a single platform for managing firewalls and other security services, including intrusion prevention, network traffic analysis, web, and email content filtering, network monitoring, and end-point protection.

Network Security Monitoring (NSM)

Network Security Monitoring (NSM) is a process of collecting data and analyzing it to gain insight into current network security and the threats that exist on the network. It’s an essential practice for modern cybersecurity, as it allows companies to identify problems and vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers. Traditional network security monitoring mostly involves event logs and log file analysis, which is helpful but limited in scope. A next-generation firewall can add significant capabilities to NSM, like host-based monitoring, content filtering, network traffic analysis, and network protocol decoding. All of this data can be collected in a centralized logging and monitoring server, where it can be analyzed and visualized to identify potential threats.

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Like network security monitoring, unified threat management (UTM) is a process of collecting data and analyzing it to gain insight into current network security and the threats that exist on the network. UTM is a term that was used to describe a feature set that usually included antivirus, antispam, firewall, and IDS/IPS. A next-generation firewall can also include these features but in a more integrated and streamlined way. A next-generation firewall can often provide these capabilities with less resource impact on the network.

Proactive Defense and Real-time Response

Proactive defense is a security process that involves protecting an organization from cyber threats by identifying vulnerabilities and removing them before adversaries have a chance to exploit them. To do this, a next-generation firewall can collect and analyze data across the entire network to identify vulnerabilities and create a plan for fixing them. Real-time response is a security process that involves using data to monitor and defend against cyber threats in real-time. A next-generation firewall can collect, analyze, and act on a wide variety of data, including network traffic, device and user identity information, and threat intelligence.

Conclusion

The difference between traditional and next-generation firewalls is that next-generation firewalls provide a more full-featured set of network security capabilities, while traditional firewalls are more limited in scope and function. With a next-generation firewall, an organization can benefit from better network security monitoring, more unified threat management, and more proactive defense.

If you are interested in a Next-Generation firewall to protect your business or would like to audit your current cyber security standards, contact LecsIT at 888.606.8805

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