Sharad Singh
A network firewall is the heart of any IT security strategy. The advanced nature of cyberattacks and complicated threat landscape have enforced organizations to deploy next-generation network firewall (NGFW) for better protection of their data and information, intrusion prevention, and application-level traffic inspection.
With massive data breaches such as Yahoo have been taking place across the world, small to large scale organizations have made the data protection a priority and taking all the necessary measures to keep the data safe.
Implementation of NGFW with advanced features and offerings is the first step for enabling efficient management of security protocols and compliance to policies of the organization. There are various vendors offering innovative and advanced solutions for recent and updated threats from cyber attackers.
Protecting data and preventing malicious attacks is a prime objective driving innovation as threats become more complex and unpredictable. Threats have been disguised in the content and information such as emails, phishing schemes, and others. Essential features such as identity awareness, intrusion detection, extensive management, policy enforcement, and others have been included in the NGFWs.
The demand for NGFW is on rising with the advent of advanced threats. According to the research firm Allied Market Research, the global next-generation firewall market is expected to reach $6.71 billion by 2025. Increase in cybersecurity spending of companies and advancements in technologies create more opportunities.
Best vendors for deploying NGFW in your organizations:
Juniper Networks
Establishing itself as a leader in network technology, Juniper Networks has been riding on the wave of advanced technologies. Following the update of its threat protection solutions for simplification of data security, it has launched on-premise devices that can analyze the data coming from a third-party firewall. Enterprises are able to respond to the threat with a single touch, determine malware, and assist in avoiding vendor lock-ins.
Juniper ATP is an ecosystem that operates in cooperation with any firewalls. This compatibility makes it operable in any environment. The detection, analysis, and automation enable the platform to offer one-touch mitigation. Juniper Networks SRX next-generation firewalls utilize information from Sky Advanced Threat Protection cloud-based service of Juniper and third-party GeoIP feeds for blocking the malicious activities as they make an attempt to enter the network.
It also provides IPS and user-based policies, application control & visibility, and unified threat management. These capabilities help in protecting business assets and preventing data thefts.
Fortinet
Fortinet has been innovating continuously and offering customers cutting-edge technology solutions for facilitating the adaptation to the digital era. Its FortiGate NGFW offers high performance in network security applications for offering application control, intrusion prevention, and anti-malware protection.
It is a platform for end-to-end security needs across the organization. The integration of SD-WAN functionality and security enables reduction of management complexity, ensures safe deployment, and helps in minimization of costs. The solutions are highly configurable, highly scalable, and can be easily integrated into other products with the help of the FortiOS operating system.
Check Point
Check Point spans nearly 2,500 communication service provider clients across the world. It provides inspection across all the LTE platforms, including Diameter, SCTP, and GTP. It offers integrated security to LTE networks as it ensures the security of IP internet connectivity for devices equipped with IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
Its enterprise firewall product line contains 17 appliances and two chassis that scale up to 400 Gbps. It can also act as a virtual appliance for deployment on VMware, Microsoft Azure, OpenStack, and others. Major features of the platform include advanced URL filtering, application control, IPS, anti-bot, antivirus, policy management, email security, and event management.
Forcepoint
Forcepoint’s NGFW offers security and Enterprise SD-WAN connectivity that includes centralizing monitoring, physical & cloud environments, management & reporting across different virtual, and third-party devices. The optimized workflows are included in the offerings to streamline the daily tasks and security management by enabling high efficiency and reduced total cost of ownership.
Moreover, it guides organizations in the identification of risks related to unsanctioned cloud apps for helping users with appropriate apps. Updates in software and policy changes can be implemented in hundreds of firewalls within a few minutes. In addition, it offers access policies that can blacklist or whitelist particular endpoint apps.
The data-specific context is provided with actionable insights from user behavior. The updating policy across the network seamlessly and efficiently is one of the crucial advantages.
SonicWall
The networking giant has installed its NGFW in nearly 500,000 SMBs, mid-size, and large-scale organizations across the world. Its offerings meet the budgetary constraints along with requirements for performance. Its key offerings include WLAN management, real-time visualization, and application control & intelligence.
According to NSS Labs, SonicWall NSA 2650 has been nearly 98% effective in blocking threats. Users have rated SonicWall high and excellent in categories including implementation, management functions, and support. It has also included AWS support and a virtual firewall.
