Introduction to Firewalls

Dr Lawrie Brown

School of Computer Science,
University College, UNSW,
Australian Defence Force Academy
Canberra, ACT 2600. Australia

Lawrie.Brown@adfa.edu.au
http://lpb.canb.auug.org.au/adfa/

Abstract

With the ever increasing growth and pervasiveness of the Internet, more and more organisations find that they need to connect to the Internet in order to fulfil their goals. However, there are persistent security concerns with such a connection. The usual approach to reducing these concerns is to install a firewall to provide perimeter defence around private networks which supplies a single controlled and monitored point of connection. The design, installation, and ongoing management of a firewall though, is a non-trivial task. This workshop will provide an overview of this process. This starts with the determination of an appropriate security policy, and then the specification of services to be supported and policy applied. From this a suitable firewall architecture can be selected from the range available, specific equipment chosen and configured. Then there is the ongoing management of the firewall, maintaining its safe configuration, responding to security events, and monitoring its ongoing use. The workshop will not discuss particular products, rather it is aimed to assist those who need to manage this process.

Contents

  • Introduction
  • What is a Firewall
  • Acquiring a Firewall
  • Risk Assessment
  • Gateway Policy
  • Gateway Design
  • Installation and Configuration
  • Gateway Management
  • Summary
  • More Resources
  • Appendices
    • Copyright © 2001 Lawrie Brown