An Industrial Next Generation Firewall is a firewall solution used to protect industrial networks by controlling and inspecting communication between OT, IT and external network connections. Unlike a traditional firewall, which mainly filters traffic based on IP addresses, ports and protocols, it can also identify applications, provide deeper visibility into network traffic and support advanced security capabilities such as threat prevention. This makes it better suited for strengthening perimeter protection and supporting segmentation in industrial environments.

The solution provides application-level traffic inspection and can be combined with security services such as Advanced Threat Prevention, Advanced URL Filtering and Advanced WildFire subscription. These capabilities help detect and block known and unknown threats while improving visibility into network communication.

Implementation typically starts with a review of the existing network architecture, communication flows and operational requirements. Based on this, a firewall concept is defined, including segmentation approach, rule design and security settings. The solution is then installed, configured, commissioned and documented in line with the industrial environment and planned operations.