What is a Stateful Firewall example? How this can protect against advanced threats?
What Is Stateful Firewall Example?
A stateful Firewall is a type of firewall in which the state of network traffic is tracked. This is done by keeping track of the type, source, and destination of each packet that enters or exits the firewall. It requires that the packets are identified in some manner so they can be tracked.
Packets are identified by their source and destination IP addresses, source, and destination TCP or UDP ports and protocols. The main benefit to a stateless firewall is that they are much easier to configure than stateful firewalls. This makes them relatively easy to use with small networks.
It is where they will protect against the most common threats without requiring extensive configuration effort. Also, the main drawback to using a stateless firewall is that it will not protect you against advanced threats. Because they do not keep track of the state of network traffic passing through them.
Stateful Firewall Security Benefits
Stateful firewalls provide many benefits over packet filtering firewalls. The most significant benefit is that they can detect and block more advanced network threats than can a packet filter firewall. A stateful firewall can do this because it is designed to track the state of network traffic as it flows through a network.
When advanced threats are detected, a stateful firewall can take preventative action to block them from harming your organization’s network. Also, a stateless firewall does not keep track of sessions or streams of data as they pass through the firewall. Instead, all incoming packets are compared to a set of security rules to determine.
This is whether they should be allowed or denied access to network resources. So, it is based on their source and destination IP addresses, and other factors specified in the set of security rules. For a stateless firewall to function properly, it must be configured with an extremely large number of security rules.
Stateful Firewall Tips for Security Professionals
When using a stateful firewall on your network’s perimeter, here are some tips from our friends at Cylance:
1. Enable logging on your firewalls as this will aid in incident response later on.
2. Apply all available security updates from vendors.
3. Enable full connection tracking.
4. Use predefined security rules.
5. Enable logging on any custom rules you create.
6. Enable logging on the firewall’s management interface.
7. Disable any unnecessary protocols or ports on your firewalls.
8. Enable stateful inspection for maximum security.
9. Ensure you have the latest version of iptables.
What Is a Firewall in Networking?
A firewall is a network security system designed to help protect an organization’s resources from unauthorized access. Also, Firewalls may be implemented at a wide variety of points in a network. So, this includes the boundary between two different networks and application-level gateways.
Firewalls are often categorized by what they monitor or control. So, a packet filter firewall, the most common type, monitors and controls network packets. It is a type of firewall that inspects incoming and outgoing network packets for signs of malicious activity or policy violations.