Upgrading From an IPv4 to an IPv6 Firewall

Most businesses today have an online presence. This enables them in catering to a wide and varied customer base. Also, most transactions today are carried out via the Internet. This means sharing and storing a large amount of customer and financial data online.

This data is crucial and the confidentiality of this information should be maintained by the businesses. For this, businesses all over the world use firewalls.

Firewalls act as a barrier between the organization’s internal network and the external one, for example the Internet. These systems perform this crucial task by controlling the incoming and outgoing user traffic.  This helps in ensuring that unidentified and untrustworthy networks do not gain access to a business’s internal network.

IT service providers mostly offer two system variants: IPv4 firewalls and IPv6 firewalls. IPv4 firewalls were popular during the 1990s. However, upgraded IPv6 comes with a bundle of benefits, some of which are:

• IPv6 firewalls use Secure Neighbor Discover Protocol (SEND) which confirms the identity of the host to which the system is connected. This defends the system from external attacks.
• IPv6 firewalls use 128-bit addressees. This effectively enables the business to use more addresses.
• The SEND protocol also makes it difficult for hackers to redirect traffic between two hosts. This protects the integrity and confidentiality of the data.

Owing to the advantages discussed above of using IPv6 firewalls, most businesses today are migrating from IPv4 systems to an IPv6. This will go a long way in maintaining the confidentiality of the data.

However, there are certain things that businesses must keep in mind. Some of these are:

• An existing system cannot be replaced in one go. Hence, businesses opting for upgrading their system will have to carry out the entire process in a phased manner. For this they might have to use tunnels which provide connectivity between the two systems. However, excessive use of tunnels can expose the system to various security risks. Therefore, it is advisable that businesses use these connectivity points only if required.
• Network layout of IPv6 firewalls differ from that of IPv4 ones. It is essential that before opting for a migration plan, businesses undertake a detailed study of the architecture of these systems and redesign the entire network if necessary.
• Organizations opting for a migration plan must also update different devices, routers to the latest software. This ensures that the entire system is up-to-date and meets the required specifications.
• Business should ensure that IPv6 enabled platforms are not used until the system is not configured.

Following the above mentioned guidelines while migrating from an IPv4 system to IPv6 will help the business in executing the entire transition process smoothly.

Benefits of using IPv6 network with a Firewall

Benefits of Using IPv6
If you overlook the security issue of Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), about which we will discuss later, you can clearly see that it offers multiple benefits. The increased number of addresses is not the only benefit of IPv6 over IPv4. These are given below:

Effective Routing - IPv6 diminishes the routing tables’ size, making routing effective and hierarchical. IPv6 enables internet service providers to gather the prefixes of the network of their customers into one prefix and declare it to the IPv6 network. Furthermore, in Internet protocol version 6, it is the responsibility of the source device to handle the fragmentation, instead of the router.

Simplified Network Configuration - Auto-configuration of address has been enabled in the IPv6. It is a router that passes the local link’s prefix in its router advertisements. The IP address can be created by the host by adding link-layer address, transformed into EUI (Extended Universal Identifier) 64-bit format, to the local link prefix (64 bits).

Effective Packet Processing - The packet processing in IPv6 is more effective. IPv6 doesn’t contain any IP-level checksum, and therefore it is not required to recalculate the checksum during every router hop.

By installing a firewall for your IPv6 network, you can ensure hassle-free experience with IPv6 network and can enjoy the best of your technology. Importance should be given to the security of your computer and therefore never leave it unprotected as that will give a chance to hackers. The hackers are getting wise to the workings of the new internet protocol.

As noted by IT security experts, the biggest network security concern of today is the threats that crop up when enterprises turning to IPv6. This is the main concern, but somehow it is has been mislaid in the hype regarding how IPv4 is about to go out of Internet protocol addresses allotted to every single internet-linked device due to the sudden great increase of internet users, web services, and devices.

There is no denying the fact that IPv6 will resolve the issue as it offers addresses that are way too higher than IPv4. However, while resolving that issue, there is a greater chance that this will expose businesses to cyber-attacks. As use of IPv6 is increasing, the chances of attacks are also going up as the focus of hackers shifts towards this development.

Given the situation, it is necessary for internet users to put in place a network security solution that offers a high level of protection for IPv6 content. A strong firewall application for IPv6 network can keep the hackers at bay without hampering the performance of your computer.