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  5. RSA: Trio Of Next-Gen Firewalls Try To Keep Up With Evolving Threats: Page 3 of 3
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RSA: Trio Of Next-Gen Firewalls Try To Keep Up With Evolving Threats: Page 3 of 3

Much of the attention at this week's RSA Conference 2012 will be on the next-generation firewall (NGFW) and how it is getting more sophisticated as the threats to computer networks get more sophisticated. A number of vendors will be making NGFW announcements during the conference in San Francisco, but not all solutions advertised as next-generation firewalls are created equal, says one analyst.
February 29, 2012

Firewalls have to adapt to the expanding threat landscape that networks face, says The 451 Group's Hanselman. Take SQL injections, for example. With a SQL injection, a query provides an attacker with access to a SQL database for seemingly legitimate reasons. The attacker is then able to gain access to other parts of the database and the network to gain wider control of it. The intruder could use that access to execute SQL commands to introduce malware, commandeer resources to launch an attack or to steal data from the target.

A NGFW would closely scan typical HTTP traffic, but be able to separate out SQL commands that may be suspicious. "A NGFW would scan your HTTP traffic for SQL commands, which have a particular format, and ... it would know that when it saw a set of SQL commands, then it would suddenly realize that, 'Hey, this isn't OK,'" he says.

Hanselman cites the Juniper Networks SRX and the Cisco Systems ASR as appliances that closely scrutinize traffic for such abnormalities.

RSA Conference 2012 is expected to draw about 20,000 attendees to San Francisco's Moscone Center Feb. 27 through March 2.

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