Firewall ruleset visualization analysis tool based on segmentation

Although most companies operate a firewall to protect their information assets, they have difficulties in identifying the control conditions of firewalls. This study proposes an analysis tool to visualize segment-based firewall rules to facilitate verification of the current control conditions. The proposed visualization tool analyzes the current control conditions of packets automatically, thereby eliminating the need for manual inspection as before, and displays the conditions with a visualization model to allow them to be easily verified. This enables managers to perform fast and accurate verification to assess whether packets are allowed or denied. This present study involved implementing the proposed visualization tool, and simulations were conducted to verify that the proposed approach was achievable. The present study also included conducting interviews with firewall experts whose feedback was positive. A video of the proposed visualization tool can be found on the following web site: https://youtu.be/q4HMnBvXbk.