Five reasons why a stateful firewall is a must for businesses

A stateful firewall is capable of tracking the status of active connections between devices on the network. Records when devices request data, send data, or close the connection.

In this context, a stateful firewall knows whether the incoming data is part of an established legitimate session or if it is an unsolicited request that should be blocked. This allows the firewall to make decisions about what traffic to allow or deny based on the communication flow, rather than simply matching packets to predefined rules.

This additional intelligence provides enterprises with a more adaptive and dynamic defense against evolving threats and technical failures. Now, let's take a closer look at the key reasons why businesses benefit from using a stateful firewall.

1. Stateful firewalls provide critical data

Unlike stateless firewalls, which only inspect individual packets in isolation, stateful firewalls trace the entire lifecycle of a connection, from initiation to termination. This allows them to understand the context of the communication, ensuring that only valid, ongoing sessions are allowed and blocking any unauthorized or anomalous requests.

With its ability to monitor traffic in real time, a stateful firewall gives administrators useful visibility into network performance. They can quickly detect technical failures, drill down into suspicious patterns, block potential intrusions, and help prevent unauthorized access.

Stateful firewalls generate real-time logs that are stored for analysis. In the event of a security breach, these firewall logs become crucial for cybersecurity incident and forensic response. They provide a detailed record of what happened before, during, and after the attack, allowing security teams to trace the source of the breach, understand the attack, and take corrective action.

2. Stateful firewalls support compliance

Many industries are highly regulated and monitored, and that means today's businesses must stay up to date on the latest trends and regulations.

While most business owners have good intentions, they can't always prevent violations from occurring. Whether it is sensitive customer data or highly classified customer information, there is simply no room for accidents. That's where a stateful firewall can come in handy.

Essentially, a stateful firewall will help businesses meet compliance requirements by protecting against unauthorized access to data, controlling network traffic, and blocking content that could be potentially malicious.

Depending on the type used, a stateful firewall can also protect against specific threats. For example, a next-generation firewall can inspect traffic beyond the IP and TCP layers, helping you detect and stop persistent threats and other sophisticated attacks.

3. Stateful firewalls adapt to meet unique needs

The beauty of stateful firewalls is that they are designed to differentiate between types of network traffic such as HTTP, FTP, and SMTP. By examining the contents of each packet, stateful firewalls can filter malicious traffic and clear the path for legitimate traffic to pass.

This not only improves security, but also reduces network congestion and improves overall network performance.

Additionally, stateful firewalls can be configured to block specific types of sites, such as social networks and peer-to-peer file sharing sites. This can be good for quelling non-work activities on company networks and reducing the risks posed by shadow IT.

Similarly, a stateful firewall can protect against all types of network security threats, from viruses and worms to Trojans and spyware. They can even be configured to block traffic from specific IP addresses and certain geographic regions.

4. Stateful firewalls improve threat detection

Stateful firewalls analyze traffic patterns to identify potential threats. By maintaining context, they can detect anomalies such as unauthorized access attempts, port scans, or deviations from expected behavior. This ability to track connection states allows businesses to proactively respond to suspicious activity.

If a business uses a VoIP phone system to make calls over the Internet, for example, a stateful firewall can prevent VoIP call fraud by identifying unauthorized attempts to establish a session. If a malicious actor attempts to inject fraudulent calls by exploiting open ports, the firewall can block traffic based on discrepancies in the login process.

SEE: Learn how to future-proof your VoIP phone system.

This is just a common example I'm using because millions of dollars are lost every year due to toll fraud. The latest and greatest next-generation firewall (NGFW) solutions feature advanced intrusion detection and prevention tools designed to protect businesses from the world's worst threat actors.

5. Stateful Firewalls Support Remote Work Environments

As remote work increasingly relies on virtual private networks (VPNs) and other secure access methods, stateful firewalls are used to monitor and verify the integrity of these connections. They ensure that only authorized traffic enters the network, blocking unauthorized access attempts and preventing potential breaches.

For example, when a remote employee connects via VPN, the stateful firewall tracks the session state, identifies legitimate traffic, and rejects suspicious packets that do not align with the established connection. This helps protect sensitive data shared during remote collaboration and protects businesses from common threats such as brute force attacks or exploitation of misconfigured remote access ports.

By integrating with secure access solutions and providing reliable perimeter defense, stateful firewalls contribute to strong remote work security without complicating network management.