

Today’s firewalls are the Swiss Army knives of security, and can replace single-purpose security solutions. NGFWs incorporate vital security features previously managed by separate devices or software But to truly be considered a modern network security device, firewalls today also need to be dynamic and incorporate additional security capabilities. Today, application-level filtering remains an important feature of firewalls that’s at the heart of the Gartner glossary definition of the term. The term Next-Generation Firewall was coined in the 1990’s when firewalls started to filter information at the application level, a more granular level than older first and second-edition firewalls. There have been firewalls called “Next-Generation” on the market since way back when Star Trek: The Next Generation was on TV.

NGFWs feature application-level filtering Firmware that updates to face changing threats.All-in-one features previously handled by other stand-alone security devices.Application-level packet filtering (This alone is the “old” definition of NGFWs).To help businesses cut through the confusion, here is a list of the three characteristics that define Next-Generation Firewalls in the context of today's network security.Ī modern Next-Generation Firewall should have each of these features: But the term’s specific meaning is ambiguous because it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. The term “Next Generation Firewall” refers to a critical category of office security technology.
