Wireless Firewall; Defining A Firewall Configuration - Motorola WiNG 5.7.1 System Reference Manual

8 - 2 WiNG 5.7.1 Access Point System Reference Guide

8.1 Wireless Firewall

Security Configuration
A firewall enforces access control, and is considered a first line of defense in protecting proprietary information within the
access point managed network. The means by which this is accomplished varies, but in principle firewalls are mechanisms that
block and permit data traffic within the network. Firewalls implement uniquely defined access control policies, so if you do not
have an idea of what kind of access to allow or deny, a firewall is of little value, and in fact could provide a false sense of
security.
With our access points, firewalls are configured to protect against unauthenticated logins from outside the network. This helps
prevent hackers from accessing wireless clients within the network. Well designed firewalls block traffic from outside the
network, but permit authorized users to communicate freely outside the network.
Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. All traffic entering or leaving the
network passes through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those not meeting the defined security criteria
(rules).
Firewall rules define traffic permitted or denied within the network. Rules are processed by a firewall device from first to last.
When a rule matches the network traffic processed by an access point, the firewall uses that rule's action to determine whether
traffic is allowed or denied.
Rules comprise of conditions and actions. A condition describes a packet traffic stream. A condition defines constraints on the
source and destination devices, the service (for example, protocols and ports), and the incoming interface. An action describes
what should occur to packets matching set conditions. For example, if a packet stream meets all conditions, traffic is permitted,
authenticated and sent to the destination device.
Additionally, IP and MAC rule based firewall filtering can be deployed to apply firewall policies to traffic being bridged by
radios. IP and MAC filtering can be employed to permit or restrict traffic exchanged between hosts, hosts residing on separate
WLANs or hosts forwarding traffic to wired devices.
For more information, refer to the following:
•

Defining a Firewall Configuration

• Configuring IP Firewall Rules
• Configuring MAC Firewall Rules
8.1.1 Defining a Firewall Configuration
Wireless Firewall
To configure a firewall:
1. Select Configuration
2. Select Security.
3. Select Wireless Firewall
The Wireless Firewall
Firewall policy used by the access point and its connected devices. The
tab from the Web user interface.
to display existing firewall policies.
screen lists Denial of Service, Storm Control and Advanced Setting tabs used to create the single
Denial of Service tab displays be default.