Non-Negotiable Next-Generation Firewall Features for Securing Critical Infrastructures

As critical infrastructures become top targets for cybercriminals, state-sponsored attackers and even insiders—attacks such as ransomware, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) and Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are becoming increasingly common and sophisticated, designed to exploit vulnerabilities. 

Safeguarding these infrastructures against both external attackers and insider threats is no easy task. However, deploying a robust NGFW solution can help ensure the safety and integrity of the network.

Here are five must have features for a robust NGFW solution to protect critical infrastructure:

1- Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS): NGFWs need to be equipped with intrusion prevention capabilities that detect and block potential threats in real-time. This feature is crucial for preventing attacks such as DDoS, which can overwhelm the infrastructure and cause outages, or SQL injection attacks aimed at compromising databases. By continuously scanning for abnormal behavior or known attack signatures, IPS helps prevent intrusions before they infiltrate the network.

2- Zero-Trust Application Access Control: Unlike traditional firewalls which mainly focus on port-based security, NGFWs need to have the capability to enforce Zero-Trust Application Access Control. This means they can identify users, devices and control applications running on the network, regardless of port or protocol. In critical infrastructure, this capability is important as it helps prevent unauthorized applications and users from accessing sensitive systems. For example, a healthcare system could prevent malicious applications from accessing patient data or controlling medical devices, ensuring that only trusted applications (and even specific application versions) can communicate with critical components.

3- Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): NGFWs inspect network traffic in detail, analyzing each packet to ensure that it conforms to security policies. DPI lets the firewall detect malicious payloads hidden within encrypted traffic or bypassing traditional filters. This level of scrutiny is vital for identifying advanced threats that could compromise critical systems, such as malware or APTs, which may attempt to infiltrate the network undetected.

4- Secure Remote Access: Critical infrastructure often requires secure remote access for maintenance, monitoring and operational tasks. NGFWs offer Virtual Private Network (VPN) capabilities, ensuring that remote connections are encrypted and secure. This is important for industries like energy or transportation where contractors or remote staff may need to access sensitive systems. NGFWs protect against unauthorized access and mitigate the risk of insider threats, which could lead to system breaches.

5- Integrations with Web Security and Advanced Malware Detection: NGFWs should integrate with web security solutions that operate browsing sessions in remote environments to provide protection for external web traffic from emerging web threats. This allows the firewall to stay ahead of new web-based attack techniques without hindering users’ productivity by blocking malicious or unknown IP addresses, domains and URLs associated with cyberattacks. Additionally, files flagged as suspicious by the NGFW, should be diverted to an isolated sandbox environment for detonation and inspection to mitigate the risk of ransomware and zero-day exploits. By automatically incorporating these threat feeds, NGFWs can block attempts to compromise critical infrastructure before they succeed.

Protecting critical infrastructures with NGFW solutions is not a luxury—t’s a necessity. With advanced features, deep visibility and the ability to integrate with other security solutions, NGFWs remain at the forefront of defending against the cyber threats targeting the most vital systems.

Forcepoint’s Next-Generation Firewalls not only offer all of the mentioned features and capabilities, but they also provide additional advanced capabilities, such as anti-evasion techniques to detect threats that other NGFWs may miss. 

Also, due to our software-centric approach, Forcepoint NGFWs can be deployed virtually or physically with the same features and functionality. Organizations, public sector entities and government agencies worldwide rely on our NGFW engines to safeguard their most critical assets.

If your organization is in need of a modern NGFW strategy, we can help. Talk to an expert today.