Technology Overview
An Enterprise Firewall, formerly known as a Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), is a core network security technology that safeguards an organization’s perimeter by monitoring and controlling traffic between trusted and untrusted networks. It combines traditional firewall functions such as packet filtering, NAT, and VPN with advanced capabilities like intrusion prevention, deep packet inspection, application awareness, and encrypted traffic analysis. The CyberRatings.org Enterprise Firewall reports evaluate these technologies on their ability to detect and block exploits and evasions, handle modern TLS/SSL traffic (1.2 and 1.3), and maintain performance and stability under real-world conditions.
In the modern enterprise, where over 95% of traffic is encrypted and cyberattacks are increasingly sophisticated, firewalls remain a foundational defense. Through years of evaluation, CyberRatings Enterprise Firewall product reports show a wide range of effectiveness, indicating that not all “next-generation” firewalls deliver equal protection. Effective products demonstrate resilience against evasion techniques, strong encrypted traffic inspection, and sustained throughput even during heavy load or attack scenarios. Those that fail often have critical protections disabled by default or struggle with performance degradation when features like TLS inspection are enabled. As firewalls sit at critical network chokepoints, performance and affordability directly impact an organization’s ability to operate securely at scale.
Ultimately, enterprise firewalls remain essential but must evolve to meet today’s encrypted, hybrid, and cloud-connected environments. Our findings reinforce that quality protection depends not just on the product’s label but on its configuration, active features, and continuous management. Organizations that enable decryption, tune policies, and monitor performance can achieve strong protection; those that rely on default settings risk leaving major security gaps.