Why having a Firewall is important
A firewall is one of the many solutions available in todays world cybersecurity to control these external threats. Its a measure that is commonly implemented and used in networking and security environments. Depending on the combination of products and solutions you will need to implement a firewall in your business, in order to achieve the desired level of security and control. Therefore, it is always a good idea to evaluate the situation in which you live and how you can be sure that your data is secure against any threats, especially from external adversaries, and there are really good services which can help you setup a firewall for your system.
If you choose to use a firewall and there are specific devices, configurations, policies, or application settings that are important to you, make sure you take into account that the majority of the professional ones will need to be integrated into your solution. Many people report that the first thing to test with a firewall is the management panel, or the firewall management tool, which can create limitations in the control or management aspects of the firewall. As an instance, there are some of the most effective methods to test the firewall that will help you to get a good overview of how it works, if it is indeed useful for the purpose you intend.
Accessing the Firewall Management Panel
In addition to all the ways to find out the firewall configuration, there is also the web portal, which allows access to the firewall from a web browser and allows administrators to connect to the management panel using a browser.
Typically, the firewall configuration is done through this management portal, which is easily accessible on the LAN side of the firewall. But even if your network is not protected by a LAN firewall, you can still find out information by connecting to the management panel from your corporate network or from the Internet.
The typical configuration of a firewall includes the following:
Supported protocols (TCP, UDP, ICMP and others)
Protocol firewalls and configurations (such as UPNP, iptables, IPSEC)
Firewall protocols (such as RADIUS)
Block lists and rules
Logging rules
Monitoring devices (for example, SNMP cards or remote access devices)
The security rules in turn can contain preconfigured rules, which contain specific security rules or policies, which are more like permission or system files. The rules are named the same as the protocols used for the protocols on the firewall, and therefore, on this page, I will focus on the majority of these methods.
Some technical aspects to keep in mind:
While it is possible to perform complex checks to determine if the firewall has been deployed correctly, I recommend you take steps to enhance the security aspects of your network. In particular, a proper intrusion detection system, security audit logging, and one or more firewall appliances can help to obtain very detailed information about the communication flows on your network.
Each protocol includes different security checks and policies, which may cause the firewall to pass the required checks and will not result in any problems, even in the case that the protocol does not fulfill its responsibility. Nevertheless, it should be always verified if the firewall has been modified to match the requirements of a particular protocol.
Firewall Management Tools
Although the information in this guide will focus on the network management tools and their configuration, the Firewall Management Panel is available to give you more information, as well as a web interface, which can be accessed either from the LAN side or the Internet. You can also connect to the panel remotely if you have a server or a smartphone device that have an Internet connection which allows to do this.