Firewalls and Financial VPN technologies are a standard security tool for the majority of companies, but in today’s changing landscape, next-generation firewalls are the only firewalls that can provide complete protection. Having a good firewall is the very first step in cybersecurity for Private Equity Firms!
It’s important to know what your options are in business for firewalls and what would work best. We are here to share with you what a Next-Gen firewall is, the types of firewalls, as well as the benefits.
What is a firewall?
A firewall is a network security device that monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic and permits or blocks data based on a certain set of security rules. The purpose of the firewall is to establish a barrier between your internal network and incoming traffic from external sources in order to block malicious content on your devices, such as viruses and hacking.
Firewalls will analyze incoming traffic based on the previously set security rules and filter that traffic coming from unsecured sources to prevent attacks on your devices. Only trusted source addresses are allowed to gain access to the destination address. Then it’s further filtered so that entrance within the device is only allowed to access certain destinations. That destination is determined once again in the previous set of security rules.
Firewalls can come in two types. They can either be software or hardware. But it is recommended to have both. A software firewall is a program installed on each computer and will regulate traffic through port numbers and applications. A physical hardware firewall is a piece of equipment installed between your network and gateway to your device.
What are the types of firewalls?
- Proxy firewalls that filter network traffic at the application level.
- Stateful multilayer inspection (SMLI) firewalls that filter packets at the network, transport, and application layers, comparing them against known and trusted packets.
- Network address translation (NAT) firewalls that allow multiple devices with independent network addresses to connect to the internet using a single IP address, hiding individual IP addresses.
- Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) that combines traditional firewall technology with additional functions, such as encrypted traffic inspection, intrusion prevention systems, anti-virus, and so much more.
- Cloud firewalls- that are software-based, cloud-deployed network devices built to stop or mitigate unwanted access to private networks. These are a fairly new type of firewall and are designed for modern business needs and are used within online application environments. We offer cloud firewalls here at Triada Networks too!
What are the benefits of a Next-Gen Firewall?
- Next-Gen firewalls are able to block malware from entering a network, something that traditional firewalls have never be able to achieve. They are better equipped to address Advanced Persistent Threats
- Next-Gen firewalls are a lower-cost option for companies looking to improve their basic security because they can incorporate the work of antiviruses, firewalls, and other security applications all at once.
- Next-Gen firewalls are faster. The increased number of protection devices and services from traditional firewalls, when turned on, tend to slow the network speed. By the time the traffic reaches the end-user, the speed is slow by almost one-third of the actual promised speed.
In other words, your business needs a Next-Generation Firewall. Threats to our personal devices such as computers and phones, then to larger networks are changing every single day. With a next-generation firewall, your devices and your business as a whole will be protected from a much broader spectrum of unwanted activity and intrusions, than with your traditional firewall.