Applications such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, for example, can be blocked for users that don’t require them as part of their job function but allowed for departments that do need access (such as marketing).

With application control, the enterprise gains granular control over which applications can run, which features of an application can be used, and which applications should be given priority for bandwidth (such as VOIP). This could be a critical feature for any organization that allows network users to download applications from the internet. NGFW’s application awareness inspects the header information and the payload against pre-defined application signatures to provide that the application is exactly what it claims to be and one that has been approved for use.

Protects the network against viruses and trojans.

Here are five of the most important aspects of how an NGFW helps organizations: At a high level, NGFWs provide comprehensive application visibility and control, can distinguish between dangerous and safe applications, and can help prevent malware from penetrating a network. What are the benefits of a next generation firewall?Ĭompared to traditional firewalls, there are myriad benefits to be aware of. However, without a consensus from the security industry about what a next-gen firewall is and what it is not, organizations must look at all the features and decide if the solution fits their business needs.

Look around at the different firewall solutions today, and you’ll discover that most vendors label their solution as NGFWs. Many NGFWs are also capable of integrating with modern networking topologies like software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN). The feature set for NGFWs build upon traditional firewall features by including critical security functions like intrusion prevention, VPN, and anti-virus, and even encrypted web traffic inspection to help prevent packets containing malicious content from entering the network. But NGFWs, uninhibited by the same technology limits, take advantage of significant advancements in storage space, memory, and processing speeds. Traditional firewalls have been around for decades.

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