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Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW)

Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) represent the latest evolution in firewall technology, distinguished primarily by deep packet inspection and an expanded feature set that typically includes IPS, VPN, antivirus, and content filtering capabilities. The term was coined by Gartner to describe firewalls that had accumulated enough advanced functionality to merit a new classification.

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About this video

Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) sit at the latest stage of a firewall evolution that began with stateless packet filtering, progressed through stateful inspection, and continued through application-layer awareness. The generational numbering varies depending on the source, with some frameworks treating NGFWs as the third generation and others as the fourth, particularly when application-layer firewalls are counted separately. What remains consistent is that the NGFW classification was applied retrospectively, after the industry recognized that firewalls had matured to a point where a new designation was warranted rather than emerging from a single defined technological leap. The term itself is credited to Gartner, the technology research and advisory firm known for its Magic Quadrant assessments, which evaluate vendors across major product categories including network firewalls. Deep packet inspection is the technical capability most closely associated with NGFWs, enabling analysis of traffic content at the application layer rather than relying solely on port, protocol, and connection state. Beyond that core feature, NGFWs typically incorporate intrusion prevention systems, VPN functionality, antivirus and anti-malware engines, web content filtering, spam filtering, and data loss prevention, making them a consolidated security platform rather than a single-purpose device. This broad feature set places NGFWs in close functional proximity to unified threat management solutions, a competing term coined around the same period, and the practical differences between the two are often minimal. NGFW has nonetheless become the dominant term in enterprise and vendor contexts, though its origins as something closer to a marketing label than a precisely defined technical standard are worth understanding when evaluating products that carry the designation.

What you'll learn

Identify the key features that distinguish next-generation firewalls (NGFW) from earlier firewall generations, including deep packet inspection and integrated security services
Distinguish between next-generation firewalls and unified threat management (UTM) solutions in terms of feature sets and industry terminology

What's covered

Next Generation Firewalls

Firewall Generations
- Gen 1: Stateless
- Gen 2: Stateful
- Gen 3: Application Layer
- Gen 4: Next Generation
Gartner's Role
- Coined the Term
- Assesses Companies & Products
- Magic Quadrant Analysis
Key Features
- Deep Packet Inspection
- Antivirus & Anti-Malware
- IPS & VPN
- Content & Spam Filtering
NGFW vs UTM
- Competing Terms
- Similar Feature Sets
- NGFW More Widely Used
Marketing Buzzword
- No Strict Definition
- Reflects Added Features

Key terms

Stateless Firewall: A firewall that filters packets based solely on static rules without tracking connection state.
Stateful Firewall: A firewall that tracks the state of active network connections and makes filtering decisions based on context.
Firewall: A network security device that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined security rules.
Next-Generation Firewall: A Next-Generation Firewall is an advanced network security device that combines traditional stateful packet inspection with application awareness, deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention, and threat intelligence to control traffic at Layer 7.
Deep Packet Inspection: Deep Packet Inspection is a network traffic analysis technique that examines packet payloads beyond the header layer, enabling content-aware filtering, intrusion detection, and application identification.
Unified Threat Management: Unified Threat Management is a network security solution that consolidates multiple security functions including firewall, intrusion detection, antivirus, content filtering, and VPN into a single appliance or platform.
Intrusion Prevention System: A system that monitors network traffic and actively blocks detected threats in real time.
Data Loss Prevention: A set of tools and processes designed to detect and prevent unauthorized access, use, or transmission of sensitive data.

Topics

Next Generation Firewall Deep Packet Inspection Unified Threat Management Intrusion Prevention System Network Security Firewall

Transcript

Generations of firewalls

As we advanced our firewalls, there was a need for a new name for these firewalls, and so we came up with next generation firewalls.

In the history of firewalls there are considered to be some generations. The first generation would be the stateless firewall. The stateful firewall would be considered generation two. Then, depending on how you look at it, the next generation would be considered gen three, or some sources say that application layer firewalls are gen 3 and next generation firewalls are generation 4. Some even categorize that there is another generation when it comes to machine learning. But whatever the case may be, just realize that we have developed things over time.

The thing you have to understand about next generation firewalls is that it kind of came after the fact. That is, we did not realize that there was a need for this term, next generation firewall, until we progressed to a certain point and we were like, okay, now we kind of need a new name for these firewalls.

Where the term came from

The term next generation firewall was really created by Gartner, or an employee at Gartner. Gartner is a company that does assessment of other companies and their products. What they will do is classify a product or a service, for instance firewalls, and then they will analyze the different players in that market to see how well they execute on their vision and what their vision is like. Essentially they have got this magic quadrant that they come up with for different products, and this one is network firewalls. They will show you what the big players are and whether you should be looking at certain products or not. That is what they do. It is pretty cool to look at some of their stuff and analyze some of their stuff.

Essentially they were seeing trends in firewalls, certain aspects in firewalls, and said, "Oh, you know what? We have these nextgen firewalls, next generation firewalls, firewalls that do this extra stuff." So this is not like these other steps where we implemented a technology and now we suddenly have a need for a different name. Now we have stateful firewalls. Now we have unified threat management. Instead, what it is is that it analyzed where we have come from and said, well, now we are at the next generation, all of these features are incorporated into it.

What is in a next generation firewall

The biggest thing that probably sets these firewalls apart is that deep packet inspection, taking a deeper look into that application layer. So we have this extra capability from a firewall perspective. But because of when this term was coined, we also usually have some sort of antivirus and anti-malware, usually a VPN, usually intrusion prevention systems, web content filtering, spam filtering, data loss prevention. We usually have a lot of these extra features that are incorporated into this as well.

So when you look at it from that perspective, there is not a lot of difference between a unified threat management and a next generation firewall. These two terms were actually coined by two competing companies, so it could be that they just chose to use different terminology to specify this. But the term that is more greatly used with this is next generation firewall.

A buzzword that turned pro

When it comes to next generation firewall, I am going to claim that this is a buzzword that turned pro. What do I mean by that? I mean it just seems like a marketing term. It seems like something that a bunch of people would use to market their product, and I think that is exactly what happened.

When you look at the definition of a stateless firewall versus a stateful firewall, there is a very clear definition of this progression, where we came from and where we landed. When you look at next generation firewall, the biggest difference here is just deep packet inspection. But beyond that, there is not really a lot of definition around what a next generation firewall is. Instead, it is more of just a term that we use to recognize that we have added so many features to a firewall that now it is deserving of a new generation, deserving of a new name. That is where this term was coined, next generation firewall.

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