A firewall is a network security device and Cisco System is known for building industry-leading firewalls and security products for businesses and personal users. If you are looking to get a firewall device to monitor incoming and outgoing network traffic and block specific traffic based on a set of pre-configured specific security rules, getting Cisco firewalls could be your best choice for customized network security solutions.

A network firewall can be software, hardware, or both, depending on your system and security requirements to create the first line of defense in your network. Cisco firewalls and security products have evolved over the years, and the company has helped customers build a balance between security and productivity with technologically advanced services. Cisco system has acquired many companies and technologies in these years in an attempt to fill up gaps in their portfolio to provide the best enterprise-level security solutions. The ASA firewalls are one such acquisition made by the company from a security company Sourcefire. It helped Cisco integrate the threat-protection software with its security solutions and technologies. This led to the introduction of Cisco ASA firewalls for advanced network security solutions.

The ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance) is part of Cisco’s Advanced Network Firewall portfolio and is capable of carrying out more advanced security solutions than previous firewalls. Cisco’s ASA firewalls use stateful packet inspection technology to monitor and block network traffics based on a set of security rules. The Cisco ASA security protocol has many physical interfaces and sub-interfaces using VLANs. Each ASA firewall interface is connected to a security zone to provide multi-layer security. It means any traffic going out will pass through the ASA interface for maximum security.

Main Security Features of Cisco ASA Firewalls

Packet Filtering

It provides a deep packet inspection service over a network than matching IP addresses from a pre-configured list. The packet filtering feature in Cisco ASA firewalls can identify what network protocols are being used to send traffic and from which application. It enables users to establish much more complex rules instead of just monitoring and blocking network traffic based on IP addresses. Users can create rules to block traffic based on protocols being used such as TCP, UDP, RTP, and applications sending traffic over the network.

NAT / PAT

NAT and PAT are used to translate the IP addresses of the source devices. It is applicable for both public and private IP addresses. Having NAT (Network Address Translation) and PAT (Public Address Translation) security features in your firewalls has many benefits as you can easily identify and distinguish IP addresses from all sources to set your security rules. It enables you to distinguish devices sending traffic over the network so that you can easily block traffic based on protocols and applications.

Another benefit of having PAT with your firewall rules is that you can assign devices with different port numbers that are accessing the internet using a single public IP address. It helps firewalls distinguish internal IP addresses assigned to devices using a single public IP address and map them using the port number assigned at their ends. It enables device-specific traffic blocking over a network.

SSL / IPSec VPN

It is a unique feature that lets you create an encrypted channel between devices located on different networks. An ASA firewall makes it possible for you to create an encrypted channel for your corporate network and keep everything coming from another network to a different channel. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel is used to protect all the traffic coming to the corporate network from the public internet. It creates a secure remote working environment for employees who are working from home. They can securely access data over a corporate network without any security threat over data theft. IPSec VPN also enables users to create an encrypted and secured connection between private LANs for private communication over the internet.  

In addition to these features, you can also combine security features of Cisco Firepower for flexible and custom security solutions that can be activated by purchasing different levels of licensing. Other benefits of using ASA firewalls include:

  • Integrated and Unified Communications capabilities
  • Increases capacity
  • Improved and High-Performance
  • Better visibility and control
  • Multi-Site uses
  • Robust web security
  • Multi-Node Clustering
  • High reliability for high resiliency applications
  • Provide collaboration and integration of virtual and physical devices
  • Ideal for both corporate networks and the data centers
  • Protection from all kinds of cyber threats and advanced malware

These are some security features and benefits that make Cisco ASA firewalls superior over their competitors. If you want to want to purchase Cisco firewalls, routers, and other accessories, contact us at IT Network Technologies for the best and most reliable services and solutions. We are a reputed dealer of Cisco products and accessories in the UAE and provide complete IT business solutions to our clients in the region. Give us a call at +97142409998 or send a message on WhatsApp (+971555038013) to get more details on Dell PowerEdge Servers, their configurations, and pricing.