Do I need to upgrade to Application intelligent firewalls?

In a word – Yes! The world is changing and today mobile devices are permitting individuals to work from anywhere. Employees are constantly downloading and installing a host of applications, some essential for their work and others, which are careless and often times hazardous. These applications compete with valid and necessary applications for bandwidth and ultimately this slows down the performance of the network. Since existing firewalls are unable to distinguish between the good and bad applications, network administrators are finding themselves constantly grappling with the pressure on the bandwidth and manually searching for the errant applications.

Features of Application Intelligent Firewalls

Application intelligent firewalls such as the Cisco firewalls and the Sonicwall have found a way to distinguish between the good and bad applications. Within the firewall exist categories like social media or gaming or others. The network administrator is able to configure which categories can be permissible and which should be blocked. Further, they can qualify the applications permissible at the user level. Finally, these firewalls even allow the network administrator to block a category of applications while retaining one or more from the category. For example, if instant messaging as a category is blocked, the firewall can be configured to permit MSN Chat if this is the chat engine used in the organisation.

Updating the Firewall Database

With a vast number of new applications constantly entering the fray, a firewall can quickly become out of date negating its utility and relevance. Application intelligent firewalls are usually designed to automatically update their databases directly from the Internet. This saves the local IT team valuable time, updating the rules and policies of the firewall from time to time.

Enhanced Visibility of Traffic Behaviour

Another benefit offered by application intelligent firewalls are the reports they provide. In general, they are able to provide network administrators user-wise application usage and application wise bandwidth usage. Data generated from traffic behaviour can even be analysed by the firewall’s software to provide recommendations to administrators on what configurations will best suit the company’s needs.

As the world of information technology continues to evolve, it is becoming more important to put sufficient controls and checks in place to protect the information of your company and your customers. Application intelligent firewalls are essential upgrades to your existing security arrangements as they protect against dangerous and risky applications.

You can find genuine firewall products, Cisco Telephones, telephone systems or telephones from Mitel, switches and other Sonicwall products, Cisco routers and Cisco switches from online dealers at excellent discounts.