How a next-generation firewall prevents application-layer attacks

This tip is part of SearchSecurity.com's Security School lesson, Next-generation firewalls: Breaking through the hype. For more information, visit the lesson page; for additional learning resources, visit the Security School Course Catalog page.

Next-generation firewalls are "next generation" for a lot of reasons, including that they typically are identity aware, highly scalable and "application aware" -- and it's this last point, application awareness, that presents IT security teams with a grand new set of opportunities and challenges.