por Do you want to know what pfSense is and what it is used for? software open source in cybersecurity?
Network security is essential to protect all the devices connected to it, the applications and the data they house.. For this type of security, also known as perimeter security, there are certain tools that have become essential to evade all threats found on the Internet.
The firewalls are network devices or software that allow the traffic in and out of a device to be strictly regulated. In this way, anomalies can be detected before they enter the system. Firewalls, then, are filters that prevent malicious web traffic from entering our computer.
The firewalls They may be physical devices (hardware)known as appliances, either software, like the one we will see soon. In this post, we will talk about one of the most used free programs in the world of network security. Next, we will explain What is pfSense and what advantages does it offer users?.
What is pfSense?
PfSense is an open source program that allows a user to have a firewall high level on your computer. PfSense allows you to establish firewalls from virtual machines, which can be downloaded from its official website. However, physical devices are also sold (appliances), which come with the system built-in and ready to go.
PfSense It is a firewall that is located between the internet and our devices in order to detect suspicious activities and block them immediately. This can protect us from most external threats (although there may also be internal sources of threats). For this reason, it is a software either hardware Quite useful for companies or even for personal use.
There are different types of firewalls and, of course, also different formats. PfSense can be classified within the type of firewall UTM, whose acronym stands for unified threat management, which translates to unified threat management. This means that pfSense contains a set of advanced features that go beyond simple rules-based regulation of network traffic.
Being a software 100% free, its source code can be found in a GitHub repository. For this reason, the application can also be customized according to the needs of the cybersecurity team. Learning what pfSense is, how to implement it, and how it was developed is essential to having a firewall high level, totally free, protecting your network.
Virtual machine vs. hardware?
Now that you know what pfSense is and what it is used for firewallyou’re probably wondering which option is better: a virtual machine or a physical device (hardware). This choice depends on the needs and size of the network, since the main difference lies in the power of the firewall. The hardware They have more power and therefore serve to protect larger networks. Additionally, they have configuration advantages.
Using pfSense hosted on a virtual machine may be ideal for smaller networks or lab practices, which are especially important for learning how to build secure networks and VPN communication tunnels. In addition, it offers the advantage of a comfortable and user-friendly graphical interface, which makes the program practical to use and ideal for learning.
pfSense web interface
Preparation
To access the pfSense web interfacefirst you need:
Download and install pfSense on a virtual machine. Configure pfSense. Install or have an additional virtual machine, which can have any operating system.
Interface access
Once you have prepared the virtual environment with the firewall installed, To access the pfSense web interface it is necessary to configure the network of the other virtual machine in the same way as the machine with pfSense.
To do this, open the virtual machine settings and go to the tab «Grid«. There, enable the following network adapters, which should be exactly the ones you have configured on your machine with pfSense.
Adapter 1
Connected to: bridge adapter.
Name: choose your local network.
Adapter 2
Enable the adapter.
Connected to: internal network.
Name: ITEM.
Adapter 3
Enable the adapter.
Connected to: internal network.
Name: DMZ.
To access the web interface, start this virtual machine, open a browser and enter the address: https://192.168.1.1. Click on the accept risks button and that’s it, the default access credentials are:
Username: admin
Password: pfsense
How to learn more?
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