-: Unified threat management.
The unified threat management or UTM system
is a newer concept that was introduced
in the last five to 10 years.
Basically, security professionals realize,
as I'm sure you're realizing now too,
that relying on a single firewall
is not enough to protect our networks,
and so a UTM was created. Now, a unified threat management
system is a combination of network security devices
and technologies that are added to
a network to better protect it.
Simply put, a UTM is a single device
that combines many other devices and technologies into it.
For example, your UTM might include a firewall,
a network intrusion detection system,
or a network intrusion prevention system,
a content filter or a proxy, an antivirus
or anti-malware gateway, a data loss prevention system,
and maybe even a site-to-site VPN, if you have the need.
Now, these devices are designed to make it easier
for a security administrator to use them.
And instead of relying on a command line interface,
with all the tech space commands,
they get a graphical user interface instead.
It allows them to make policies, rules, and signatures
that makes it much easier and much quicker to use.
Now, UTMs provide a singular
package with multiple protections.
And they are essentially a defense in depth strategy
within a single device or system.
Because of this, often these devices
will replace your firewall, and it's usually placed
as the outermost device in your local area network
to provide its perimeter defense and its protections.
You may have also heard the term, Next Gen Firewall,
or Next Generation Firewall, also known as NGFW.
If you've heard this term, it's because it's being used
in the industry instead of using
the term UTM or unified threat management.
These are those all-in-one security devices
and that's all a Next Generation Firewall is.
This is a marketing ploy because people
weren't understanding the UTM concept,
but they understood firewalls,
and so calling it a Next Generation Firewall
helped them increase sales.