NS Labs defines a firewall is a mechanism used to protect a trusted network from an untrusted network, while allowing authorized communications to pass from one side to the other, thus facilitating secure business use of the Internet. With the emergence of new web applications and security threats, however, firewalls are evolving further. Next generation firewalls (NGFWs) traditionally have been deployed to defend the network on the edge, but enterprises have expanded deployment options to include internal segmentation.

NSS research indicates that NGFW devices are typically deployed to protect users rather than data center assets, and that the majority of enterprises will not separately tune intrusion prevention system (IPS) modules within their NGFWs.

REPORT OVERVIEW:

This report uses data from NSS’ individual NGFW Test Reports to create Security Effectiveness ratings for each vendor. Products are scored on multiple factors that affect the overall Security Effectiveness of the system, including:

• Firewall Policy Enforcement
• Application Control
• Exploit Block Rate
• Evasions
• Stability and Reliability

PRODUCTS EVALUATED:

The following products were evaluated:

• Barracuda NextGen Firewall F600.E20 v7.0.2
• Check Point Software Technologies 15600 Next Generation Threat Prevention (NGTP) Appliance R77.20
• Cisco Firepower 4110 v6.1.0.1?
• Forcepoint NGFW 3301 Appliance v6.1.2?
• Fortinet FortiGate 3200D FortiOS v5.4.4 GA Build 1117?
• Fortinet FortiGate 600D FortiOS v5.4.4 GA Build 1117?
• Juniper Networks SRX 4200 v15.1X49-D75.5?
• Palo Alto Networks PA-5250 PAN-OS 8.0.0?
• SonicWall NSA 6600 SonicOS 6.2?
• Sophos XG-750 Firewall v16.01?
• WatchGuard Firebox M4600 v11.10.7

To learn how each vendor performed, download a copy of each individual Test Report. NSS clients can also download the NGFW Comparative Reports on Performance, Total Cost of Ownership, and Security Value Map.

As with all NSS Labs group tests, there was no fee for participation. In addition, the test methodology applied is in the public domain to provide transparency and to help enterprises understand the results.