How to Create a Firewall Policy
In computer networking, firewalls are devices that allow or block network traffic based on rules. These devices can be hardware or software. They work by examining the contents of data packets that are sent over digital networks. The goal of a firewall is to protect a computer from unauthorized or malicious communications.
Firewalls are often the first line of defense in a network. They monitor and analyze the network traffic and determine whether to accept, block or allow it.
Most of the traffic that reaches a firewall is TCP and UDP. It includes source and destination addresses, time of arrival, direction of travel, and port numbers.
Firewalls are also able to detect malicious or suspicious activity. For example, a rule can be set that allows all incoming traffic from a certain source or port. This is done by creating a policy that is intent-based.
To create a rule, start by building a list of all the sources and destinations that are in your network. You can do this by analyzing old firewall logs.
Once you have a good list of incoming and outgoing networks, you can begin creating a firewall policy. This policy should include a formal change procedure and track who adds a rule, who affects the rule, and when it was added.
A firewall policy should also provide a way for users to track how the rules affect them. A good firewall policy should be in place before any security changes occur, and should document rules across multiple devices.