Monitor your firewall logs with Datadog

Firewall systems are essential for safeguarding networks and devices from unauthorized traffic. They come in various forms such as hardware, software or cloud-based solutions, falling under either network-based or host-based categories. Network-based firewalls monitor and filter incoming and outgoing traffic while host-based ones manage traffic to and from a specific device like a laptop. Firewall logs capture valuable information about network traffic based on standard configurations or custom rules. These logs typically include timestamps, actions taken by the firewall (like allow, deny or drop), source and destination IP addresses, ports used for communication, and the protocols involved in the request. This data helps determine who is accessing your network, which resources they are trying to interact with, and how they are doing so. Monitoring these logs can help detect malicious activity as well as network performance issues. Key firewall logs include port scans on your network, inbound connections from external sources, outbound connections to external sources, and changes made to the firewall configurations or rules. Datadog provides turn-key integrations for various firewall systems including Palo Alto Networks Firewall, AWS Network Firewall, Amazon Web Application Firewall, and Microsoft Azure Firewall. It also allows direct collection of logs from hosts or external servers. Datadog's advanced filtering, analysis, and threat detection capabilities can be used to maximize visibility into firewall traffic. Datadog's Pattern Inspector helps identify trends in firewall activity by providing a visual breakdown of patterns based on search queries. Log-based metrics enable monitoring network activity over time, creating alerts, and detecting anomalies. Cloud SIEM Threat Detection automatically flags suspicious activity using industry-standard threat intelligence lists. Online Archives retain logs for forensic analysis up to 15 months while exclusion filters control the volume of logs that are indexed, helping manage costs and focusing on specific scenarios. By efficiently managing firewall logs, Datadog provides comprehensive visibility into network traffic patterns, enabling early detection of potential threats or performance issues.