Evolution of Firewalls: Toward Securer Network Using Next Generation Firewall

The Internet was not created with security provisions and, as a result, many security protocols and devices were added later. Firewall is an essential device that gives the basic protection to the networks and devices connected to the Internet. The first generation firewalls were adopted in the early 1980s and operated based on a set of simple rules that controlled the network traffic between the Internet and the local network. Then over the years, firewalls have evolved into many different kinds to provide better protections. However, traditional firewalls are not catching up with the evolving threats, and the industry is rapidly adopting the Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) that offer higher performance, better protection, and simplicity. This paper will review the evolution of the traditional firewalls, the need for NGFW, its features, and the industrial adoption trends. We will also review how NGFW can support emerging machine learning algorithms and better protect IoT systems.