User Authentication

User authentication is a process in which users’ credentials are required by the firewall gateways before the users are to communicate with the external network (typically the Internet). In case users fail to provide proper credentials when requested by the firewall gateways, their access request to the Internet network is denied, and users are not allowed to communicate with the external network.

Apart from security reasons, there are many other reasons why administrators must implement user authentication process in the firewalls before the users are allowed to communicate with the external network. Some of the main reasons are discussed as below:

• Monitoring – Since many devices (including firewall applications and appliances) can monitor the web activities on per user basis, administrators configure them to authenticate user accounts before allowing the users to access the external network. By doing so, the firewalls can log users’ activities. With the help of logs generated while monitoring activities of a user, administrators can assess and control the level of privileges that a culprit user gets.
• Filtered Content – While working with the firewalls and configuring rule-sets and policies, administrators can also filter the incoming or outgoing contents. In order to configure the rule-sets and policies more granularly, administrators can configure user authentication to filter the contents on per user basis. With the help of filtered contents, administrators can restrict users from opening unwanted sites, or requesting or sending potentially unsafe and harmful packets.
• Manage Time Allowance – Many firewall applications and appliances also allow administrators to manage time allowance. This means that they can specify the total duration of Internet access on each user basis. Making users authenticate their credentials help administrators to specify the total amount of duration for which users can access the Internet in every 24 hours. Time allowance also maintains proper discipline in an organization as users do not waste the Internet bandwidth by surfing the web unnecessarily.
• Limit Time Duration – With the help of user authentication, security administrators can also specify the time of the day at which users are allowed to access the Internet or communicate with the external network. This process reduces unnecessary bandwidth consumption and decreases the chances of getting a network intruded with unauthorized people. When a particular time of the day is specified at which users can access the Internet, the configuration helps users to focus on their work instead of uselessly surfing the Internet.
• Bandwidth Allocation – Most firewall applications or appliances also allow administrators to allocate bandwidth on per user basis. While using such firewalls, administrators can limit the maximum amount of bandwidth a particular user or group of users can consume. With the help of such bandwidth management system, administrators can remarkably reduce the useless consumption of available bandwidth.

Active Directory Integration

Many firewall applications and appliances also allow administrators to integrate Active Directory Services with them. Such firewalls allow administrators to pull the user database from the Active Directory and configure the user accounts accordingly. Some firewall gateways also allow administrators to pull the entire OU structure and configure appropriate policies on them. Since the entire organizational units are pulled from the Active Directory database and policies and rule-sets are applied on them, they become applicable on each user and/or group that the organizational unit has.