Firewall Technologies

Abstract

The increasing complexity of networks, and the need to make them more open due to the growing emphasis on and attractiveness of the Internet as a medium for business transactions, mean that networks are becoming more and more exposed to attacks, both from without and from within. The search is on for mechanisms and techniques for the protection of internal networks from such attacks. One of the protective mechanisms under serious consideration is the firewall. A firewall protects a network by guarding the points of entry to it. Firewalls are becoming more sophisticated by the day, and new features are constantly being added, so that, in spite of the criticisms made of them and developmental trends threatening them, they are still a powerful protective mechanism Classifications: Software Firewall Hardware Firewall

Keywords: Firewall Technologies, Network Security, Access Control, Security Policy, Protective Mechanisms. Definition: Hardware Firewall A Firewall is a communication device that filters access to the protected network. define a firewall as a collection of components or a system that is placed between two networks and possesses the following properties: All traffic from inside to outside, and vice-versa, must pass through it. Only authorised traffic, as defined by the local security policy, is allowed to pass through it. The firewall itself is immune to penetration Hardware Brands CISCO NETASQ FORTIGATE

Software:
Linux This is a list of security software packages for Linux, allowing filtering of application to OS communication, possibly on a by-user basis: APPARMOR MODSecurity - Also works under Mac OS X Solaris and other versions of Unix Systrace Zorp

Windows
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Wingare WinRoute TMG (Threat Management Gateway) form Microsoft

Types

There are different types of firewalls depending on where the communication is taking place, where the communication is intercepted and the state that is being traced Network layer and packet filters
Application-layer Proxies Network address translation Distributed web application firewalls Distributed Web Application Firewall (also called a dWAF) is a member of the web application firewall (WAF) and Web applications security family of technologies. Purely software-based, the dWAF architecture is designed as separate components able to physically exist in different areas of the network. This advance in architecture allows the resource consumption of the dWAF to be spread across a network rather than depend on one appliance, while allowing complete freedom to scale as needed. In particular, it allows the addition / subtraction of any number of components independently of each other for better resource management. This approach is ideal for large and distributed virtualized infrastructures such as private, public or hybrid cloud models.

Cloud-based web application firewalls Cloud-based Web Application Firewall is also member of the web application firewall (WAF) and Web applications security family of technologies. This technology is unique due to the fact that it is platform agnostic and does not require any hardware or software changes on the host, just a DNS change. By applying this DNS change, all web traffic is routed through the WAF where it is inspected and threats are thwarted. Cloud-based WAFs are typically centrally orchestrated, which means that threat detection information is shared among all the tenants of the service. This collaboration results in improved detection rates and lower false positives. Like other cloudbased solutions, this technology is elastic, scalable and is typically offered as a pay-as-you grow service. This approach is ideal for cloud-based web applications and small or medium sized websites that require web application security but are not willing or able to make software or hardware changes to their systems.