Best Firewall Security Management Software in 2024

What is Firewall Security Management Software?

Firewall security management software is designed to oversee the firewall settings through a single, unified platform. A firewall can be a physical device, virtual private cloud, SaaS (Software as a Service) or digital software. It can monitor both physical and virtual firewalls, along with routers, load balancers, and switches.  

By using real-time event tracking capabilities, this tool can detect and immediately respond to potential security threats. Furthermore, firewall security managers can provide insights into policy changes, vulnerabilities and issue notifications for immediate action.  

Overall, this security software protects organizations against cyber threats by streamlining their security management process. 

How Does Firewall Security Management Software Work?

Firewall security management software works by helping organizations set up rules and policies to protect their systems from cyber threats such as malware, ransomware, and unauthorized access.  

This software filters out any malicious or unauthorized access attempts by acting as a barrier between trusted internal network and untrusted external networks. Moreover, firewall security managers ensure unified management of firewalls, application control, intrusion prevention, URL filtering, and malware defense policies. It helps in maintaining the integrity of network infrastructure and mitigating potential security risks. 

Must Have Features of Firewall Security Management Software

Firewall security management software offers features like threat detection/prevention, policy management, virtual private network (VPN) capabilities, and more. Here are some must-have features of firewall management tools software:

1. Centralized Policy Management: This feature allows users to define and deploy firewall policies from a single platform to all firewalls across the network.
2. Threat Monitoring and Alerting: The software monitors firewall logs for suspicious activities, such as unauthorized access attempts, malware infections, and denial-of-service attacks. It can also identify emerging threats and generate real-time alerts.
3. Network Visibility and Reporting: The software provides comprehensive visibility into network traffic, such as which applications are using the most bandwidth, which users are accessing certain resources, and what types of traffic are flowing through the network. This information can be used to identify and troubleshoot security issues and optimize network performance.
4. Compliance Management: The software helps ensure that your firewalls are configured according to industry standards and regulations (like PCI DSS, HIPAA). 
5. VPN Management: If your organization uses virtual private networks (VPNs) to allow remote users to securely access your network, any good firewall security management software will help you in centrally managing and configuring VPN settings.
6. Log Analysis & Threat Identification: The firewall security manager analyzes firewall logs and identifies potential threats. This can include things like unusual traffic patterns, attempts to access unauthorized resources, and malware.
7. Bandwidth Control and Monitoring: This feature allows you to set limits on how much bandwidth can be used by different types of traffic or users. This can prevent denial-of-service attacks and ensure that critical applications have the bandwidth they need.

Benefits of Firewall Security Management Software

Firewall security management software offers several benefits that can significantly improve your network security posture. Here's some of the key advantages:

• Centralized management: It is one of the obvious benefits of using firewall security management software. It offers a central console to configure policies, deploy them to all firewalls, and monitor activity – all from a single dashboard. This can reduce the risk of errors and inconsistencies that manual configuration can introduce.
• Monitor network traffic: Firewall management tools help users monitor their traffic. By analyzing the traffic, this software can keep an eye on anonymous activities to ensure your system is protected.
• Protects your system from viruses: Firewall software allows you to control your system’s entry point and set security filters that can help stop virus attacks.
• Better Visibility and Control: As the software provides comprehensive network traffic visibility, it gives you insights into application bandwidth usage, user access patterns, and the overall traffic flow. This valuable information can be used to identify and address security issues, troubleshoot network problems, and optimize network performance.
• Reduce overall Costs: Firewall security software can automate tasks like network monitoring, threat detection and alert, report generation and more. It helps in minimizing errors which frees up IT resources and helps prevent security incidents that can be very expensive to remediate.

Best Firewall Security Management Software Comparison 

There are multiple firewall security management tools available in the market. Here is a comparison of the top 10 best firewall security managers in terms of their key features and pricing.

Top 10 Firewall Security Management Software Comparison
Softwares	Key Features	Pricing
Cisco Firewall 1010E	Next-generation intrusion prevention system, VPN management, URL filtering, TLS (Transport layer security), Automated protection	Available on request
Smartguard	Bandwidth management, Antivirus for web browsing, Email management, Traffic network and user monitoring, Content filtering, Server management	Available on request
Sophos Firewall	Automated threat detection and response, Synchronized app control, Zero-day and ML protection, Application, web and content control, Central firewall reporting	Available on request
FortiGate NGFW	Macro- and micro-segmentation, Cloud-data protection, AI-powered security performance and threat intelligence, SD-WAN (Software-defined wide area network), Switching and wireless	Available on request
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall	Malware Sandbox, URL filtering, Built-in secure SD-WAN, Cloud deployment, Advanced Malware Detection and Protection (AMDP), Deep packet inspection, User identification	Available on request
Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewall	Threat detection and prevention, Networking versatility and speed, URL filtering, Deep packet inspection, Virtual Private Network (VPN), Dynamic traffic management	Available on request
Check Point Next Generation Firewalls (NGFWs)	AI-powered security gateways, Cloud delivered threat prevention, Zero Day attacks prevention, Integration with third party SOC and automation systems, Intrusion prevention system (IPS)	Available on request
Barracuda CloudGen Firewall	Multi-layered security, Zero-hour attacks prevention, Built-in SD-WAN, Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Protection, SSL interception	Available on request
pfSense Plus	Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), IP/DNS-based filtering, Anti spoofing, Snort is a packet analyzer, IP block listing filters, Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)	Starting at $189
Juniper firewall management software (SRX Virtual Firewall)	Intrusion prevention system (IPS), Supports integrated network antivirus, Enhanced web filtering, AI-predictive threat prevention, Scales up to 200 Gbps for ultra-high performance	Available on request

How Do We Evaluate and Select the Best Firewall Security Management Software for You?

There are several firewall security management software options available in the market. But which tool should you choose? To help you with it, we have evaluated these programs on various metrics. 

Firstly, we look for the features offered by each software, including firewall log management, VPN management, URL and content filtering, threat detection and more. We also looked for other factors like firewall remote management, integration, traffic management features and more. Lastly, we considered the cost of the software and looked for it based on their free trial, free version, and paid pricing plans. 

How to Choose the Right Firewall Security Management Software?

• Every firewall security management software comes with various features and functionalities. For instance, some tools excel in content filtering while others may be favored for their threat detection and response. So, selecting the ideal Firewall Security Management Software for your business needs a refined approach. 
• First, assess your needs and consider factors such as your network, traffic size and patterns, or if you need any specific security requirements. Knowing your priorities can help narrow down your options. 
• Furthermore, evaluate the software's capability to provide robust threat detection, intrusion prevention, filtering, traffic monitoring, and seamless integration with existing infrastructure.  
• Next, consider scalability to tackle future growth and the vendor's reputation for timely updates and support. By conducting a thorough analysis, you can identify software that aligns with your organization's security goals and requirements. 

Modules of Firewall Security Management Software

Firewall security management software consists of several modules that work together to provide comprehensive protection for your network. Below are some of the key modules: 

1. Device Management: This module helps you to manage your firewalls and other security devices. It allows users to push out any updates to all managed devices, monitor the health of your security devices and even automate routine tasks like backups, updates etc. 
2. Policy Management: Policy management allows organizations to define and set up rules to monitor their network traffic. They can create rules based on various criteria, such as IP addresses, protocols, ports, applications, and users. 
3. Real-time traffic monitoring: It helps to monitor firewall activity and network traffic in real-time through dashboards and visualizations. By monitoring real-time traffic, organizations can identify suspicious traffic patterns that are different from normal network behavior, potentially indicating threats. 
4. Packet Filtering: The packet filtering module helps to examine the specific attributes of data packets, such as source and destination IP addresses, ports, and protocols. By doing so, this module evaluates their compliance with predefined security policies. Upon scrutiny, it either permits or denies the transmission of packets for better network security. It also prevents unauthorized access attempts and filters out potentially malicious traffic. 
5. Logging and Reporting: This module collects and analyzes logs which are generated by your firewalls. It also allows you to generate reports on firewall activity. The reports later can be used to investigate any potential security risks, monitor trends and check security compliance. 
6. Compliance Management: Compliance management ensures that your firewall configuration meets industry standards and security regulations (e.g., PCI-DSS, HIPAA). 

Implementation of Firewall Security Management Software 

Implementing Firewall Security Management Software involves several stages, from initial planning to ongoing maintenance. Here's a breakdown of the key steps: 

• Evaluate Needs: To implement firewall security manager, the first step is to identify your network security requirements, firewall types (physical, virtual, cloud), and features you want (policy management, threat detection, compliance). 
• Research and Compare: Research different Firewall Security Management Software options considering factors like features, scalability, vendor reputation, and budget. 
• Install and Configure Software: After you have selected the software, install it on your devices by following the vendor's instructions. Now, configure the software to connect and manage your firewalls. This typically involves adding firewall IP addresses, credentials, and specifying firewall types. 
• Training: Train your security team effectively on how to use the firewall security management software for policy creation, monitoring, and incident response. 
• Monitor your traffic: Lastly, continuously monitor network traffic and firewall activity for suspicious behavior using real-time dashboards and anomaly detection features. Moreover, regularly analyze firewall logs to investigate security incidents, identify trends, and troubleshoot any issues. 

How much does Firewall Security Management Software cost? 

The cost of firewall security management software varies based on factors such as features, the number of users, and the scale of implementation. Prices typically range from a nominal monthly subscription to higher costs. On average, the cost is approximately $150.  However, for a detailed comparison of options and pricing details, visit Techjockey. This website will provide valuable insights regarding your security needs.