UTM Firewall vs. UTM Appliance: 4 Important Points To Know in 2020

Introduction

In the world of technology, UTM firewalls and appliances have evolved to protect data over the passing ages. UTM full form in the firewall is Unified Threat Management, which ensures data privacy from external unethical and illegal virtual attacks, and unlawful access.

In 2003, an all-in-one security system was launched, followed by another invention in the next year. These consecutive inventions have contributed a lot to the evolvement of firewalls in the field of technology. 

UTM  firewall works upon enhancing data protection by completely controlling network security through various methods. It protects businesses from security threats in a simple way by multiple methods. 

Cybercrimes have been increasing day by day, making it extremely dangerous for everyone to ensure data privacy, which is why firewall protections are critical to use these days.. It comes with a lot of security features and provides total protection from external threats.

UTM appliances and UTM firewalls share many similarities in providing the systems with data protection. UTM appliances are also available at reasonable rates,  for organizations to protect their data privacy. The sole purpose of both of these security tools is to provide virtual protection and ensure data privacy by preventing external attacks. Therefore, being able to answer – What is the UTM firewall and how does it work? –  is extremely important.

1. How does UTM work?
2. UTM firewall
3. UTM Appliance
4. Difference between a Next-Generation Firewall and a UTM/ what is the difference between UTM and firewall

1. How does UTM work?

UTM  firewall works in various ways. The principal methods include flow-based inception and proxy-based inception. 

The flow-based inception collects samples of data in a UTM device. Later it goes on checking if there is any disturbance in the data flow and whether the issue is external or not. 

Proxy-based inception works in a similar manner The only difference is that it appears as a proxy and keeps checking for possible security threats. While checking for issues, if the content is malware-free, it is sent further for the user to access.; If it turns out as problematic one, it gets detected immediately and is removed from the system as soon as possible. The first and foremost step is installing the tool within a security system. Then, the proxy-based inception detects various incoming attacks and removes them from the system to prevent them from entering the system.

2. UTM firewall

UTM firewalls are software-based or hardware-based network security tools that protect data privacy and prevent various kinds of external security threats. The primary function of firewalls is to follow a few rules to detect unwanted external threats. Firewalls are initially installed in individual devices, and then they act upon detecting the potential external threats. Firewalls are mainly used for small network systems. Sometimes, various devices already come along with attached firewalls. It checks the incoming and outgoing data flow to ensure the content is malware-free, which keeps the network system free from external attacks and threats.

Previously, firewalls were only useful to filter traffic based on various IP addresses. However, with the constant growth in the technological field, firewalls are now able to track the state of network connections through the appliance.

The need to install firewalls has eventually and gradually developed over the passing years, considering the increasing rate at which cyber has evolved. A high-speed UTM firewall is capable of protecting your network security from external worm and hacker attacks. 

UTM firewall also works upon detecting problematic inbound and outbound threats. Sometimes, an additional filtered URL is used to detect this malware content to remove them from the system entirely.

3. UTM Appliance

Unified Threat Management focuses on protecting data privacy. Its primary purpose is the same as UTM firewalls. Both these security tools are used to provide network systems with complete data protection and privacy. However, a significant difference between UTM vs firewall is that appliances are only available as hardware. It provides network systems with antivirus solutions and prevents appliance reporting. 

UTM appliances are way bigger and much more powerful than UTM firewalls for data protection and privacy. They are  connected to the leading network, and upon getting connected, they keep working on providing maximum security against all the external threats and attacks., This is the most significant difference between UTM  and firewall.

UTM appliance manages the network load pretty well, in a much better way than UTM firewalls. 

UTM firewall means a firewall that has to be installed separately in individual security systems. However, UTM appliances can be directly connected to the leading network, so many organizations with extensive workload prefer UTM appliances over firewalls daily.

UTM appliance is capable of preventing phishing attacks, along with several spam attacks as well. UTM appliance provides the best service for enterprises irrespective of its size. It provides hardware consolidation along with a simplified way of management. Another significant advantage is that it is available at a reasonable rate,  for organizations to purchase this tool.

4. Difference between a Next-Generation Firewall and a UTM/ what is the difference between UTM and firewall

A next-generation firewall aims at filtering the unwanted external malware content through the IPS (intrusion prevention system) and DPI (deep packet inspection). It provides organizations with several benefits like application control along with intrusion prevention and visibility of their network. It comes as software with several functions, including scanning, accessing, and detecting malware content on data packets. It provides a stateful inspection, active directory, routed modes, and visibility to its users. 

A next-generation firewall aims at filtering the unwanted external malware content through the IPS (intrusion prevention system) and DPI (deep packet inspection). It provides organizations with several benefits like application control along with intrusion prevention and visibility of their network. It comes as software with several functions, including scanning, accessing, and detecting malware content on data packets. It provides a stateful inspection, active directory, routed modes, and visibility to its users. 

However,  when talking about  UTM  vs next-generation firewall, NGFW,  is an important aspect to discuss. It was created to protect a few selected network services, including URL filtering, IPS, etc.

A UTM appliance serves a bigger purpose, and it provides security to numerous large systems.

A UTM appliance provides out-of-the-box policies since it deals with a much bigger field. Next-generation firewalls tend to prefer manual security reporting and management techniques.

Since many organizations with excessive workload do not have the time to invest in manual reporting, they prefer UTM appliances over the next-generation firewalls. Next-generation firewalls are ideal for small businesses, and IT teams and UTM appliances provide security systems to many spheres, including significant business sectors. 

UTM systems also reduce complexity while detecting the potential external threats and enhances visibility rate to its users.

Considering the current scenario, it is easy to detect how difficult it has been to maintain the data privacy of organizations these days. Several technological developments have been taking place over the ages, and more threats are coming up with the increasing rate of cybercrimes over the consecutive passing years. It is essential for every organization now to protect their data from outsiders.

Therefore, the first and foremost step is to spread awareness about these security tools like next-generation firewalls, UTM firewalls, and UTM appliances. Once every organization is aware of the importance of cybersecurity, it will eventually help them to decrease the number of cybercrime and secure the essential information from falling into the hands of hackers. Also, if you’re interested in learning more about handling cyberattacks and defending your devices, then Jigsaw Academy’s Master Certificate in Cyber Security (Blue Team) is the course to suit your needs. This 520-hour-long online course is India’s first program particularly focusing on defensive Cybersecurity technology.

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• Unified Threat Management: All you need to know