Packet Filter Firewall Rule Anomalies and Mitigation Techniques:A Technical Review

Protection cannot be given to an organization’s network perimeter without a firewall. A firewall is a tool to implement the security policy of the management, and filter incoming or outgoing network traffic accordingly. One of the major issues with packet filter firewall is rule anomalies. Due to human mistakes the rule configuration may be erroneous that leads to unintended behavior of the firewall. These anomalies may result in non-availability of network resources to legitimate users or may also pose a threat by increasing the attack surface. Therefore detection and mitigation of packet filter firewall rule anomalies is an important topic of research. This paper tries to stimulate the research aptitude in this direction by describing the types of anomalies along with surveying the literature for detection and mitigation techniques. This work highlights the advantage of Ant Colony Optimization in removing firewall rule misconfigurations. This paper also highlights the performance measuring parameters that are used to evaluate and assess the firewall.