Introduction to AWS Network Firewall

AWS Network Firewall service makes it simple to deploy critical network safeguards across all of your VPCs.

AWS Network Firewall is a managed service. This service makes it simple to deploy critical network safeguards across all of your VPCs. Deep packet inspection, application protocol detection, domain name filtering, and an intrusion prevention system are among the features provided by Network Firewall.

The service is easy to set up and scales automatically with network traffic. So you never have to worry about implementing or managing any infrastructure. Network Firewall handles the resource types Firewall, FirewallPolicy, and RuleGroup. The flexible rules engine of the Network Firewall allows you to define firewall rules that provide reasonable control over network traffic.

This article will be discussing in brief about Network Firewall. Although, before proceeding further, let’s go through the topics that we will be covering in this article:

1. AWS resources handled by AWS Network Firewall
2. Deployment models of Network Firewall 
3. AWS Network Firewall concepts
4. Who requires an AWS Network Firewall?
5. Why do you have to use AWS Network Firewall?
6. Key benefits of AWS Network Firewall
7. Pricing of AWS Network Firewall
8. How to enable AWS Network Firewall?
9. Network Firewall policies
10. Network Firewall rules

AWS resources handled

The Network Firewall is in charge of the following AWS resource types:

1. Firewall: Provides traffic filtering logic for a VPC’s subnets.
2. Rule Group: Defines a set of rules to match against VPC traffic and the actions to take when a match is discovered. 
3. Firewall Policy: Defines the rules and other settings a firewall uses to filter incoming and outgoing traffic in a VPC.

Deployment models

 Network Firewall supports the following deployment models:

1. Centralized model: This model allows connectivity between VPCs and on-premises infrastructure.
2. Hybrid model: This model allows for VPC-to-VPC traffic flow and a VPC-level Network Firewall for added security.
3. Distributed model: Each AWS VPC can have its own Network Firewall in this model. Allowing you to have a unique set of rules for each.

The use cases determine the best model for you. The distributed model may be the best option if you don’t need on-premises infrastructure. It’s the least expensive, most straightforward to set up, and safest.

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On the other hand, a centralized model may suit you better due to its effectiveness in compliance with local rules or governance. Alternatively, if cost isn’t an issue, the combined model may be the better decision as it provides the most policy control and more excellent threat resistance.

Network Firewall concepts

There are many key Network Firewall concepts. Some of those are:

1. Internet Gateway: A gateway that you connect to your VPC to establish connections between your VPC’s resources and the internet.
2. Subnet: Network Firewall produces firewall endpoints in your VPC’s subnets to filter network traffic.
3. Route table: A set of rules known as routes that decide where network traffic has been directed.
4. Network Firewall firewall: An AWS resource that offers traffic filtering concepts for VPC subnets.
5. Network Firewall firewall policy: An AWS resource that defines the rules and other configurations for a firewall. It can be used to filter incoming and outgoing traffic in a VPC.

Who requires a Network Firewall?

Network Firewall enables you to meet network protection and access preventative measures requirements in a matter of minutes. As a result, if you use AWS Services and find yourself the target of malware activity, Network Firewall could be the best option for you.

Third-party applications, such as Cisco, can also meet security requirements. But their setup requires an initial cost and can be difficult. A Network Firewall is a low-cost alternative.

It integrates better and more efficiently with AWS services, adding tremendous value and lowering prices that save you time. Network Firewall is a wise decision if you’re on a limited budget and searching for convenient yet defensive network measurements.

A Network Firewall is a perfect fit, as with most businesses, from the beginner looking for security to protect hisher infrastructure to the enterprise.

Why do you have to use Network Firewall?

Network Firewall handles all traffic types, not just network traffic. Additional features include deep packet inspection, application protocol detection, domain name filtering, and an intrusion prevention system.

Working with Network Firewall will be a breeze if your company uses various AWS services. It works with AWS Direct Connect, S3, AWS Firewall Manager, and other services.

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Key benefits

There are many benefits of a Network Firewall. Some of those benefits are:

1. View the complete list of Network Firewalls implemented throughout an organization’s AWS accounts.
2. View the overall properties, including the firewall’s location and tag values.
3. Policy management is consistent across VPCs and accounts
4. Fine-grained controls provide flexible protection.
5. Examine the entire set of security controls associated with the instance to make necessary changes to the Network Firewall. The examination of security controls can happen using current change management processes.
6. Avoid putting business-critical systems at risk by incorporating Tufin SecureCloud into CI/CD pipelines.
7. Easily recognize which cloud assets are vulnerable by sorting and filtering—allowing to discover resources not guarded by Network Firewall.

Pricing of Network Firewall

You expect to be paid hourly wages for every firewall endpoint with AWS Network Firewall. You also bear the cost of traffic handled by your firewall endpoint, billed by the gigabyte.

Each gigabyte managed through the firewall endpoint incurs data processing charges, irrespective of the traffic’s node. You will also be charged standard AWS data transfer fees for all data transferred through the AWS Network Firewall.

Let’s look at the table for understanding the pricing in a better way:

How to enable Network Firewall?

AWS Network Firewall acts as an endpoint service, roughly comparable to AWS Private Link and other network services. Your AWS Network Firewall endpoint must reside in a dedicated subnet. That too, with a minimum size of /28 within your Amazon VPC.

The path insertion and filtering mechanism in AWS Network Firewall inspect all traffic routed to the endpoint. You can centrally build configurations and policies using the AWS Firewall Manager Console. This all can be done using various rule types, such as intrusion prevention systems.

Network Firewall policies

Before creating the Network Firewall rule group, the template creates a Network Firewall policy and connects it. An AWS Network firewall policy describes a firewall’s monitoring and protection behavior. The rules which users add to their policy define the specifics of the behavior.

Network Firewall rules

A Network Firewall rule group is a recyclable collection of criteria for inspecting and managing network traffic. As part of policy configuration, you could indeed add one or even more rule groups to a firewall policy.

Stateless or stateful network firewall rule groups exist. Stateless rule groups evaluate packets independently. In contrast, stateful rule groups estimate packets in the context of their traffic flow. Network Firewall uses Suricata rules engines to handle all stateful rules.

If you want to read more about AWS protection services, you can go through the following articles:

Conclusion

In today’s article, we went over the AWS Network Firewall in great detail. By writing this article, I hope you have successfully overcome a few of your worries.

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