Network Firewall Security Management Software

Network firewall security is vital to every organization’s security framework. Firewalls are network security systems that monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined rules set by IT admins. This allows a firewall to establish a secure barrier between a trusted internal network and an untrusted external network, such as a local area network (LAN) or the Internet. Firewalls are frontline defenders for networks and computers. Network firewall security and firewall management are essential to overall network management for IT admins tasked with ensuring firewall configuration and deployment can protect the internal network, business data, and end users.

Firewalls can be either software- or hardware-based systems — and both forms are considered endpoint protection technology. Typically, hardware firewalls are released as standalone products for corporate use. They often come as a built-in component in a router, switch, access point, or other networking device. Hardware firewalls typically feature several network ports to allow connections to multiple systems.

Firewall security software, on the other hand, is installed on a computer or provided off-the-shelf within an operating system or network device. Software firewalls allow IT admins to customize settings to some extent. However, a software firewall can protect a system from standard control and unauthorized access attempts but can have trouble with more sophisticated network breaches.

There are several types of firewalls, including:

• Network firewall
• Host-based firewall
• Software firewall
• Hardware firewall
• Internal firewall
• Distributed firewall
• Perimeter firewall
• Packet filtering firewall
• Proxy firewall
• Stateful inspection firewall
• Web application firewall
• Next-generation firewall

Firewalls filter traffic so computers only receive requested data and avoid unwanted connections. A firewall security system will review Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) packets, the building blocks of computer communication, whether they’re sending or receiving data over the internet or on an internal network.

These packets contain source and destination addresses, packet sequence information, and payload data, often in their headers. Firewalls use this data to check against preset rules by IT administrators. By analyzing the control information in incoming and outgoing packets, firewalls can determine the connection status between sender and receiver and effectively filter packets.

There are different base kinds of firewalls, and each monitors TCP packets differently. Stateless firewalls monitor network traffic and restrict or block packets based on source and destination addresses or other static values. Stateless firewalls inspect individual packets in isolation instead of considering the overarching trends of the network traffic.

To get the most out of a firewall security system, admins need firewall management tools.

Network firewall protection enhances overall network security by:

• Offering IT teams more granular control: Network administrators can carefully select the specific ports that receive and transmit data for various operations, including web browsing, email communication, and more, when using firewalls and a firewall monitoring tool. Firewalls can use multiple types of signatures and host conditions to allow or deny traffic.
• Enabling admins to investigate suspicious activity: With the increased insight into what is entering and exiting a network that firewalls and firewall management tools provide, IT teams can identify and investigate suspicious packets to determine if and where there’s potentially hazardous activity occurring on a connected network.
• Helping organizations stop hackers: Without firewall security and robust network firewall security software, a hacker could more easily obtain control over a computer on a network and steal data, deploy malware, or turn that computer into part of a botnet. It would only take minutes for an internet-connected computer to be exposed to various forms of cyber threats without an effective firewall.

With SolarWinds Security Event Manager, IT teams can improve their network firewall security system and detect unauthorized access, including port scans, unusual data packets, network attacks, and unusual traffic patterns—all with more ease than ever. SEM allows IT admins to generate firewall audit reports and demonstrate compliance with out-of-the-box templates, meaning they can bring network firewall protection to the next level.

Users can configure SEM to collect firewall information from various firewall manufacturers, including Cisco, Check Point, Software Technologies, Juniper Networks, and more. By configuring these firewalls to send logs to the SEM tool and centralize log data with SEM events, admins can take one step closer to total network visibility.

Additionally, IT admins can create custom filters highlighting specific firewall events to simplify firewall security management further. What’s more, SEM is built with a real-time log and event analyzer, providing IT teams with immediate visibility into network anomalies as they occur. This boosts situational awareness throughout network ecosystems, enhancing overall firewall security management.

In addition to using SolarWinds Security Event Manager as network firewall security management software, IT admins can use it as a:

• Cyber threat intelligence framework: Users can set custom alarms to be swiftly updated on events associated with suspicious activity, meaning IT teams will have more time to address issues. This allows admins to prevent problems from escalating or even occurring in the first place.
• File integrity monitoring software: IT teams can also use SEM to protect sensitive information from theft, loss, and malware. Users can use the file integrity checker to view details or changes made to files and folders.
• A botnet detector: Besides serving as a network firewall management software, SEM can also function as a botnet detector. It relies on its correlation engine to identify unusual network traffic patterns and behavior to help detect and mitigate botnet attacks.
• Compliance reporting software: SEM not only collects and correlates log data to meet compliance requirements, but also generates reports. Plus, SEM has predefined templates for PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX, and more to further simplify IT admins’ lives.
• Intrusion detection software: Admins can effortlessly collect logs to identify attacks on their network and even sit back and let SEM take automatic action to respond to intrusions.

Other SolarWinds Tools to Help Secure Network Firewalls:

• SolarWinds Patch Manager
• SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
• SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
• SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted & Security Observability

Related Features:

• Firewall Log Analyzer
• Firewall Security Audit
• Juniper Firewall Analyzer
• Ubuntu Log Analyzer
• SonicWall Firewall Log Analyzer
• Network Security Monitoring