Getting Started with Firewall

Firewall is easy to set up and use right out of the box. The factory default parameters are adequate for many installations. You may only need to configure a few parameters to meet the specific needs of your organization.

NOTE: By default, protection is disabled for all servers, users and objects following initial installation. You must enable protection and define your security rules in order to begin enjoying the benefits of Firewall protection.

As with any computer security product, you should carefully consider defining security rules that will maximize protection for your organization against intrusion and user abuse--without adversely affecting legitimate user access or system response time. Before beginning these steps, you should complete the process of identifying which specific servers and objects are to be protected and which users should be granted access rights to them.

To install Firewall and other iSecurity products, follow the steps in the iSecurity Installation Guide.

To configure Firewall and define your first security rules according to your organization's security policies, follow these steps, in order:

  1. Obtain and enter the authorization code (temporary or permanent), as shown in Configuring Firewall, if you have not already done so.
  2. Start Firewall, as shown in Starting Firewall.
  3. Enable the FYI Simulation Mode on a global basis, as shown in Running Firewall in FYI Simulation mode.
  4. Review the basic system configuration parameters and change those necessary to meet your organizational needs, as shown in Configuring Firewall.
  5. Enable protection and logging for all activity on all servers. Make certain that the security level is set to 1 (Allow All) for all servers, as shown in Modifying Firewall Settings for Servers.
  6. After a suitable period of activity (several days or weeks), use the Rule Wizards to analyze the logged activity and to define security rules based upon your organizational security policies, as shown in Building Firewall Rules with the Rule Wizards.
  7. Use the Activity Log and the Query Wizard to analyze activities not covered by the Rule Wizards, as shown in Adding and Modifying Queries. Define appropriate rules based on this analysis.
  8. Create Users, User Groups and Time Groups according to your organizational requirements, as shown in Setting Firewall Rules for Users and Groups.
  9. After a suitable period of further activity, use the Rule Wizards, Activity Logs and queries to ensure that your new rules are effectively blocking unauthorized access, while not preventing legitimate user access.
  10. Disable the FYI Simulation Mode, as shown in Running Firewall in FYI Simulation mode. From this point forward unauthorized user access will be blocked.