Security Appliances

Today there is no single security appliance or piece of technology that will solve all network security needs. Because there is a variety of security appliances and tools that need to be implemented, it is important that they all work together. Security appliances are most effective when they are part of a system.

Security appliances can be stand-alone devices, like a router or firewall, a card that can be installed into a network device, or a module with its own processor and cached memory. Security appliances can also be software tools that are run on a network device. Security appliances fall into these general categories:

Routers - Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR) routers, shown in Figure 1, have many firewall capabilities besides just routing functions, including traffic filtering, the ability to run an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), encryption, and VPN capabilities for secure encrypted tunneling.

Firewalls - Cisco Next Generation Firewalls have all the capabilities of an ISR router, as well as, advanced network management and analytics. Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) with firewall capabilities are shown in Figure 2.

IPS - Cisco Next Generation IPS devices, shown in Figure 3, are dedicated to intrusion prevention.

VPN - Cisco security appliances are equipped with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) server and client technologies. It is designed for secure encrypted tunneling.

Malware/Antivirus - Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) comes in next generation Cisco routers, firewalls, IPS devices, Web and Email Security Appliances and can also be installed as software in host computers.

Other Security Devices – This category includes web and email security appliances, decryption devices, client access control servers, and security management systems.