Cisco Firewalls

 

Do Cisco Routers Have Firewalls

When you have cisco routers with a firewall, why you need to go for an expensive device that provides firewall functionalities. The Cisco IOS offers an IOS firewall feature that comes built-in with the device.

Previously, Cisco referred to the IOS firewall as CBAC or Context-Based Access Control, which many books and videos still use, but don’t get confused. It’s the same IOS firewall that offers similar features and commands.

When it comes to the IOS firewall, it monitors TCP and UDP packets of the OSI model’s application layer. It would look after the outgoing requests, and for the return traffic, it would open reciprocal, inbound ports.

About the Cisco IOS Firewall

IOS is a stateful firewall that maintains the state of the TCP connection’s reach. It allows return traffic only when allowed and matches the TCP packet’s stored state information.

Below are some of the features of the Cisco IOS firewall:

Filtering of traffic

Traffic is filtered at the port and application level.

• Inspection of traffic

This is the IOS firewall core feature; it keeps the TCP connection state and prevents unauthorized accesses.

• Audit trails and Alerts

It offers real-time, Syslog audit trails and alerts.

• Prevention of intrusion

ISO Firewall comes with an intrusion detection system that can cover more than 50 most common attack signatures.

Cisco routers with firewall offer a compelling, robust feature, a must for every router. However, for large enterprises, it may not be an excellent internet protection solution. Still, it’s an impressive choice for small and medium-sized business.

And suppose you want to configure the IOS Firewall easily. In that case, you can do so by configuring it with Cisco SMD Firewall Policy Wizard GUI.