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Traffic inspection policies
Policies are key elements that contain rules for allowing or blocking network traffic and inspecting the content of traffic.
Creating and managing policy elements
Policy elements are containers for the rules that determine how NGFW Engines, Master NGFW Engines, and Virtual NGFW Engines examine traffic. The policy elements for the engines include Template Policies, Policies, and Sub-Policies.
Using policy elements and rules
Names, comments, and the Continue action make policy rules easier to use. You can also enable policy validation and configure user responses and connection tracking.

About this Help
Introduction to the Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall solution
Before setting up Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall (Forcepoint NGFW), it is useful to know what the different components do and what engine roles are available.
Deployment
Before you can set up the system and start configuring elements, you must consider how the different SMC components should be positioned and deployed.
Setting up
After deploying the SMC components, you are ready to start using the Management Client and carrying out some of the first configuration tasks.
Monitoring
You can use the SMC to monitor system components and third-party devices. You can also view and filter logs, and create Reports from them.
Controlling engines
You can command and set options for engines through the Management Client or on the engine command line. You can also stop traffic manually.
SMC configuration
Security Management Center (SMC) configuration allows you to customize how the SMC components work.
Engine element configuration
You can create and modify Firewalls, IPS engines, Layer 2 Firewalls, Master NGFW Engines and Virtual NGFW Engines. You can configure the engine properties, activate optional features, and configure advanced engine settings.
Routing
Use the Management Client to configure static or dynamic routing, and use a Multi-Link configuration to manage and distribute inbound and outbound connections.
Traffic inspection policies
Policies are key elements that contain rules for allowing or blocking network traffic and inspecting the content of traffic.
- Creating and managing policy elements
  Policy elements are containers for the rules that determine how NGFW Engines, Master NGFW Engines, and Virtual NGFW Engines examine traffic. The policy elements for the engines include Template Policies, Policies, and Sub-Policies.
  - Getting started with policies
    Policies organize traffic processing rules hierarchically, to make administration easier and to optimize traffic inspection performance.
  - Create template policies or policies
    Template Policy elements are used as a basis for Policies and other Template Policies.
  - How sub-policies work
    Sub-Policies are sections of Access rules that you can insert in the IPv4 or IPv6 Access rules of Policies, Template Policies, or other Sub-Policies.
  - Install policies
    After creating or editing a policy, you must install or refresh the policy on the engine.
  - Using policy elements and rules
    Names, comments, and the Continue action make policy rules easier to use. You can also enable policy validation and configure user responses and connection tracking.
    - Validating policies
      You can automatically validate the policy while editing and during policy installation.
    - Configuring connection tracking
      Connection tracking means that the engine keeps a record of all currently open connections (stateful inspection).
    - Policy Snapshots
      A Policy Snapshot is a stored record of a policy configuration.
    - Continue rules
      The Continue action for a rule sets default options for traffic matching.
    - Adding comments to rules
      You can add comments to rules to provide useful information to administrators and to make policies easier to read.
    - Naming rules
      You can specify an optional name or short description for Access rules, NAT rules, Ethernet rules, Exceptions in Inspection Policies, and rules in QoS Policies and Alert Policies.
  - Deleting policies templates or sub-policies
    If no policies are based on a policy template, you can delete the template. Similarly, you can delete a Sub-Policy as long as no Jump rules use it.
  - Firewall Policy elements examples
    Using Firewall Policy elements, you can protect essential communications, make Firewall rules more readable and Firewall Policies more efficient, and manage network administrator rights.
  - IPS Policy example
    You might want to restrict the policy editing rights of administrators to the IPS engines at their sites.
- Ethernet rules
- Access rules
  Access rules are lists of matching criteria and actions that define how the engine treats different types of network traffic. They are your main configuration tool for defining which traffic is stopped and which traffic is allowed.
- NAT rules
- Inspection Policy elements
  Inspection Policy elements define how the engines look for patterns in traffic allowed through the Access rules and what happens when a certain type of pattern is found.
- Editing policies
  The rules in Firewall, IPS, Layer 2 Firewall, and Layer 2 Interface Policies allow you to control how the engines inspect and filter network traffic, and how NAT (network address translation) is applied on Firewalls, Master NGFW Engines, and Virtual Firewalls.
- Defining IP addresses
  When you define IP addresses as elements, you can use the same definitions in multiple configurations for multiple components.
- Working with Service elements
  Service elements match traffic based on protocol or port and set options for advanced inspection of traffic. Service elements are used in Firewall Policies, IPS Policies, Layer 2 Firewall Policies, and Layer 2 Interface Policies.
- Defining Situation elements
  Situation elements contain the context information that defines the pattern that the NGFW Engine looks for in the inspected traffic. Situation elements also define the patterns that match events in the traffic.
- Using Network Application elements
  Network Application elements collect combinations of identified characteristics and detected events in traffic to dynamically identify traffic related to the use of a particular network application.
- Defining User Response elements
  With the User Response element, you can send customized replies to users, instead of just closing an HTTP or HTTPS connection.
- Quality of Service
  The Quality of Service (QoS) features allow you to manage bandwidth and prioritize connections on the engines. QoS features are available on Firewalls, IPS engines, Layer 2 Firewalls, Master NGFW Engines, Virtual Firewalls, Virtual IPS engines, and Virtual Layer 2 Firewalls.
- File filtering
  Monitoring and restricting what data is sent out is an important part of data loss prevention (DLP). File filtering allows you to restrict the file types that are allowed in and out through the firewall, and to apply malware detection to files.
- Integrating Endpoint Context Agent
  If you have installed Forcepoint Endpoint Context Agent (ECA) clients on the endpoints in your network, you can collect information about endpoint clients, and use the information for access control in the SMC.
- Filtering URLs
  URL filtering allows you to filter URLs based on categories of content or lists of individual URLs.
- Anti-malware scanning
  An anti-malware scanner compares network traffic against an anti-malware database to search for malware. If malware is found, the traffic is stopped or content is stripped out.
- Protocol Agents on engines
  Protocol elements of the Protocol Agent type are special modules for some protocols and services that require advanced processing. Protocol Agents can enforce policies on the application layer.
- Sidewinder Proxies
  Sidewinder Proxies are software modules that provide network level proxies, protocol validation, and configurable application level protocol filtering and translation on Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall.
- Setting up TLS inspection
  The TLS inspection feature decrypts TLS connections so that they can be inspected for malicious traffic and then re-encrypts the traffic before sending it to its destination.
- Redirecting traffic to a proxy service for external inspection
  In addition to inspecting traffic on the NGFW Engine, you can transparently redirect traffic to a proxy service in the cloud or on premises. For example, you can redirect all HTTP and HTTPS traffic to the Forcepoint Web Security Cloud service.
- Blacklisting IP addresses
  Blacklisting is a way to temporarily block unwanted network traffic either manually or automatically with blacklist requests from an NGFW Engine or Log Server. Firewalls, IPS engines, Layer 2 Firewalls, and Virtual NGFW Engines can use a blacklist for blocking traffic.
Users and authentication
User accounts are stored in internal databases or external directory servers. You can use Forcepoint NGFW in the Firewall/VPN role or external authentication servers to authenticate users.
Virtual private networks
Forcepoint NGFW supports both policy-based and route-based VPNs (virtual private networks).
Maintenance and upgrades
Maintenance includes procedures that you do not typically need to do frequently.
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting helps you resolve common problems in the Forcepoint NGFW and SMC.
Appendices

Using policy elements and rules

Names, comments, and the Continue action make policy rules easier to use. You can also enable policy validation and configure user responses and connection tracking.

Validating policies
You can automatically validate the policy while editing and during policy installation.
Configuring connection tracking
Connection tracking means that the engine keeps a record of all currently open connections (stateful inspection).
Policy Snapshots
A Policy Snapshot is a stored record of a policy configuration.
Continue rules
The Continue action for a rule sets default options for traffic matching.
Adding comments to rules
You can add comments to rules to provide useful information to administrators and to make policies easier to read.
Naming rules
You can specify an optional name or short description for Access rules, NAT rules, Ethernet rules, Exceptions in Inspection Policies, and rules in QoS Policies and Alert Policies.

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