It is important to note cybersecurity plays a critical role in the modern interconnected business world, where many essential operations utilize some form of technology-based and internet-reliant communication. It is stated that “a network requires a substantial defensive strategy to protect individual components and the information they contain” (National Security Agency, 2022, p. 2). The best and most appropriate firewall would be a stateful inspection firewall type. The main reason is that “state-aware devices not only examine each packet but also keep track of whether or not that packet is part of an established TCP or another network session” (DeCarlo & Ferrell, 2021, para. 25). Since it is a medium-sized business that specializes in manufacturing, the stateful inspection firewall provides for security than circuit monitoring or packet filtering. The internal company network needs to be secured, but the access and downloading of files additionally need to be available. An example of a stateful inspection firewall would be the Cisco ASA.
The most effective and reliable way to test a software program of a firewall for its security would be firewall penetration testing. It focuses on “locating the firewall, conducting traceroute, scanning ports, banner grabbing, access control enumeration, Identifying the firewall architecture … internal and external testing, testing for covert channels, HTTP tunneling, and identifying firewall-specific vulnerabilities” (Stankovic, 2019, para. 2). In other words, it is a comprehensive and systematic method to identify the weak points of the firewall, where many critical elements are evaluated for potential risk factors. It should be noted that the process requires an adjustment when it comes to each specific case, but they follow the same procedural flow for the most part.
References
DeCarlo, A. L., & Ferrell, R. G. (2021). The 5 different types of firewalls explained.Search Security.
National Security Agency. (2022). Network Infrastructure Security Guidance [PDF document]. Web.
Stankovic, S. (2019). Firewall penetration testing: Steps, methods, & tools.PurpleSec.