11 Best Firewall Audit Tools For Review in 2024

Review and Comparison of the Best Firewall Audit Tools to keep your organization’s network safe and secure 24/7:

If you really look at firewall auditing, it is nothing but a practice of first analyzing and later evaluating exactly how efficient an enterprise’s firewall security policy is. Firewall auditing is essential to detect and rectify vulnerabilities on time. Firewall auditing is necessary to ensure configurations are relevant and adhere to industry best practices.

Such an audit allows security experts to identify issues in their firewall configuration so they can later take appropriate measures to fix them.

Simply put, firewall auditing can provide security experts with the information they need to strengthen the firewall’s security posture. Performing firewall audits can protect your IT infrastructure from all sorts of cybersecurity threats.

Firewall Audit Tools – Popular List

Firewall audits let organizations comply with industry regulations and standards. The benefits of firewall auditing are endless. That being said, organizations have often complained about how overwhelming a manual firewall audit can be. Thankfully, there are solutions that can automate this time-consuming process.

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If you wish to keep your organization’s network safe and secure 24/7, then we would suggest going through my list of the best firewall auditing solutions below.

List of the Best Firewall Audit Tools

Some remarkable Software for Firewall Audit:

1. Tufin (Recommended)
2. ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer
3. AWS Firewall Manager
4. Cisco Firepower Management Center
5. AlgoSec
6. Skybox
7. FireMon
8. Titania Nipper
9. Nmap
10. Intruder Network Vulnerability Scanner
11. SolarWinds Network Firewall Security Management Software

Comparing Some of the Top Firewall Audit Software

Detailed reviews:

#1) Tufin (Recommended)

Best for ensuring network security compliance across on-premise and hybrid cloud networks.

Tufin is a firewall audit software that considerably simplifies and expedites the audit preparation process with excellent automation, comprehensive documentation, and audit trails.

With Tufin, you get a centralized firewall management console through which it becomes easier to respond to audit requests in real-time. The console also comes equipped with prebuilt and customizable reports that ensure compliance with regulatory mandates such as NIST, NERC CIP, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.

Furthermore, these reports can be automated based on factors like time periods, geographic regions, business areas, firewall vendors, etc.

Features:

• Maintain a record of all network policy changes
• Automated policy reviews
• Built-in compliance checks
• Improve firewall performance with strategic policy automation

Pros:

• Customized firewall audit reports
• Assure continuous compliance with policy-based automation
• Real-time alerting
• Integration with existing CI/CD tools

Cons:

• Nothing significant

Verdict: Tufin is one of the finest firewall audit and network security policy management tools that can be used to ensure your organization’s network infrastructure remains safe 24/7 all year round. As such, it has my highest recommendation.

Price: Contact for a quote.

#2) ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer

Best for configuration management.

ManageEngine’s EventLog Analyzer is an exceptional configuration management and NSPM tool that you can use to enhance the integrity of your firewall systems. Once deployed, the software will gather data from firewall devices and conjure change management reports based on them.

These reports will help you find out who made the changes, what changes were made, and why they were made in the first place. You get alerts in real time whenever a change happens. Simply put, every policy change made to your firewalls is compounded periodically and stored for your reference in a secure database.

Features:

• Firewall Security Compliance Management
• Firewall Log Analysis
• Configuration Management
• Policy Management

Pros:

• Gain complete visibility into policies
• Detect and record anomalies
• Real-time alerts

Cons:

• Some admins might find the tool tough to use initially.

Verdict: With ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer, you get software that is excellent at optimizing firewall performance, tracking policy changes, and ensuring continuous compliance.

Price: Starting at $395.

#3) AWS Firewall Manager

Best for cross-account protection.

With AWS Firewall Manager, you can deploy firewall policies across multiple AWS accounts to monitor traffic that is entering and exiting your network. Any changes made to the centrally configured policies will be automatically deployed to your VPCs and accounts.

We simply love its visual dashboard, which gives you a bird’s eye view of all devices on your network. Through this dashboard, you’ll learn which AWS resources are secured and identify resources that are non-compliant to take appropriate actions on time.

Features:

• Multi-Account Resource Policies
• Cross-account protection policies
• Hierarchical rule enforcement
• Multi-account resource group

Pros:

• Accurate reporting
• Visual dashboard
• Centralized Security Management

Cons:

• Needs more training documents

Verdict: AWS Firewall Manager is the software we would recommend for instance where you need to manage multiple resource groups. The tool is great due to its features which include centralized administration and automatic protection of firewall systems on the network.

Price: $100 per policy per region

#4) Cisco Firepower Management Tool

Best for streamlining firewall tasks.

Cisco offers you a tool that can manage hundreds of firewalls on networks across the entire organization. Besides firewall auditing and security management, Cisco is also great at blocking intrusion attempts and preventing malware spread.

The software makes it very easy to create and enforce security policies across multiple channels on your network. The software can be flexibly deployed on your public, private, and cloud-delivered infrastructure.

Features:

• Threat detection and combat
• Intrusion attempt blocking
• Manage firewalls across the organization’s entire network
• Write and scale policy enforcement

Pros:

• Flexible deployment
• Centralized management of firewalls
• Available in multiple form factors

Cons:

• Needs better documentation

Verdict: Cisco Firepower Management grants you complete visibility into your global, ever-changing networks. The software is great at centralizing and simplifying firewall admin.

Price: Contact for a quote

#5) AlgoSec

Best for custom audit-ready report generation.

AlgoSec is yet another platform that equally shines with regard to its firewall auditing capabilities. You get all the tools necessary to ensure continuous compliance via a considerably more simplified firewall auditing procedure.

Once deployed, AlgoSec will automatically identify gaps in compliance at your behest. This way you have ample time to remediate the detected issue before your network’s security is further compromised. Perhaps the best aspect of AlgoSec is its capability to generate audit-ready reports instantly.

Also, the reports generated can be customized as per your wish.

Features:

• Instant custom report generation
• Ensure compliance with all major regulations like HIPAA, SOX, PCI, etc
• Check changes proactively for compliance violations
• Get a comprehensive audit trail of all changes made

Pros:

• Generate custom reports
• Very effective at ensuring a consistent state of compliance
• Automatic documentation of the change approval process

Cons:

• Traffic simulation needs improvement

Verdict: AlgoSec is a tool that excels at generating custom audit-ready reports in a bid to ensure continuous compliance. This tool is effective in helping you proactively identify gaps in security and assist with the remediation of a problem before an audit can take place.

Price: Contact for a quote

Further Reading => List of the Best Algosec Competitors to Look For

#6) Skybox

Best for Firewall Vulnerability management.

With Skybox, you get software that can centrally manage virtual, next-gen, and traditional firewall solutions from multiple vendors. The software can be used to automate and customize firewall reporting. This software is great at detecting any rule conflicts, misconfigurations, and policy violations to ensure consistent compliance.

Skybox is effective at detecting vulnerabilities on firewall devices. The platform is capable of efficiently analyzing cloud, physical, and virtual firewalls for threats. You can optimize Firewall performance by easily identifying unused and overly permissive rules.

Features:

• Vulnerability detection
• Risk mitigation
• Rule-based optimization
• Automated firewall automation and clean-up

Pros:

• Simplified rule recertification
• Track firewall changes easily
• Test policy updates before the application

Cons:

• Some may find the price too high

Verdict: From identifying policy violations to detecting all sorts of compliance issues, Skybox is a great firewall audit tool to track policy changes, ensure compliance, and improve the performance of your organization’s firewall solution.

Price: Contact sales for a free quote

#7) FireMon

Best for good scalability and integration support.

FireMon is a fantastic security management software that you can approach to audit your firewall’s policies. In fact, the software arms its users with the tools they need to create, manage, and manage security policies. The software also performs automatic evaluation tests to ensure the policies are risk-free before they are deployed.

Perhaps a major reason why we felt FireMon deserved to be on this list is because of its highly scalable nature. It was built to scale. You also get preconfigured and customized reports that can cater to the needs of almost all types of organizations.

Plus, the fact that it can integrate with any existing vulnerability management tool makes FireMon ideal for firewall risk assessment as well.

Features:

• Workflows powered by intelligent rule recommendations
• Automatic Rule Evaluation
• Rule recertification
• Policy optimization
• Consolidated compliance reporting

Pros:

• Unified dashboard
• Integrate with tools like Qualys, Tenable, etc.
• Generate customizable reports

Cons:

• Some users have complained about issues occurring after every update.

Verdict: FireMon has a lot going on about it. It has a user-friendly interface, facilitates automated policy creation and management, and integrates with existing vulnerability management tools to ensure flawless risk assessment. Therefore, FireMon is worth checking out.

Price: Contact for a quote

#8) Titania Nipper

Best for excellent misconfiguration detection and response.

Titania Nipper is great at auditing firewalls, routers, and switches with impeccable panache. It does so with out-of-the-box evidence that guarantees compliance with established risk management frameworks. If it detects misconfigurations of any kind, it also advises you on how to solve that problem appropriately.

It is truly phenomenal with its ability to continuously monitor misconfigurations. In fact, the entire process of identifying any anomaly in firewall configurations is automated. The findings are reported based on the degree of risk they pose.

Features:

• Critical Risk Remediation
• RMF Assurance
• Air-Gapped Auditing
• Configuration assessment

Pros:

• On-demand compliance and security audits
• Excellent process automation
• Risk-prioritized threat detection

Cons:

• The security standards used during the audit aren’t clear

Verdict: Titania Nipper is a great platform for discovering vulnerabilities in devices on a network. These devices can be switches, routers, or of course, firewalls. The software helps you a great deal in ensuring your network is secure and compliant.

Price: Contact for a quote

#9) Nmap

Best for network discovery and security.

Nmap made it to the list because one of the rarest software you can use for network discovery, policy management, and policy management without paying a dime. Nmap’s primary purpose is to leverage IP raw packets to assess what hosts are currently on the network, what services they are offering, and what type of firewalls are being put to use.

Although designed to scan large networks rapidly, you can also rely on Nmap to scan single hosts as well.

Features:

• Security Audit
• Network scanning
• Host monitoring
• Monitoring service uptime

Pros:

• Free and open source
• Can scan huge networks that support hundreds and thousands of devices.
• Good documentation

Cons:

• Weak customer support

Verdict: Despite being free to use, Nmap is excellent at scanning huge networks to make sure the devices on them are safe 24/7. It comes packed with advanced features and is very easy to use.

Price: Free to use

#10) Intruder Network Vulnerability Scanner

Best for reducing the attack surface.

Intruder is a powerful cloud-based vulnerability scanner that can be deployed for firewall auditing. The software will immediately alert you of misconfigurations or any anomalies that could compromise your firewall security system.

You can deploy Intruder to identify common mistakes like not enabling security settings or detecting issues with configurations. It is also quite good at detecting missing patches or application bugs and taking remediation measures to promptly deal with them.

Features:

• Continuous vulnerability management
• Compliance-based reporting
• Attack surface monitoring
• Internal network scanning

Pros:

• Real-time alerts
• Auto scanning
• Vulnerability detection

Cons:

• Reports aren’t detailed

Verdict: While being a great vulnerability scanner, Intruder also serves as a great internal network scanner that can help you keep the switches, routers, and firewalls on your network secure at all times.

Price:

• Essential: $101/month
• Pro: $120/month
• Custom enterprise plans are also available

#11) SolarWinds Network Firewall Security Management Software

Best for creating custom network firewall system filters.

SolarWinds grants you complete visibility into your firewall network. You can use this software to continuously monitor your firewall system to immediately identify and fix detected anomalies. The platform makes it easier to set firewall policies and makes it even simpler to monitor these policies over time for changes.

You get alerted in real time if a change happens. You can also set permission rules to determine who’s authorized to make changes to firewall security policies. The best part, hands-down, about SolarWinds is the fact that you can set custom filters to highlight specific firewall events based on custom or default settings.

Features:

• Efficient Intrusion detection
• Gain real-time visibility into the firewall system
• Real-time alerts notifying policy changes
• Set custom firewall security system filters

Pros:

• Real-time monitoring
• Proactive threat hunting
• Efficient data analysis

Cons:

• Custom reporting can be a tad bit difficult to use

Verdict: SolarWinds is a fantastic security management software that strengthens your firewall’s performance with real-time visibility, automated threat detection, and analytical report generation. This one is definitely worth checking out.

Price: Contact for a quote

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Firewalls play an instrumental role in protecting and enhancing your IT network infrastructure’s security. A firewall basically serves as an additional layer of security that protects your systems from potential threats. It can control the flow of traffic in and out of your network and even protect you from harmful DDoS attacks.

It is therefore important to make sure your firewall is functionally optimal. This is done with the help of firewall audit software, the best of which we’ve mentioned in the list above.

Such software once deployed can considerably simplify the entire audit process to ensure your network is secure around the clock and sticking to the required compliance standards. We would suggest going with Tufin for its excellent firewall management and NSPM capabilities.

Research Process:

• We spent 16 hours researching and writing this article so you can have summarized and insightful information on which Firewall Audit tools will best suit you.
• Total Firewall Audit Tools Researched: 35
• Total Firewall Audit Tools Shortlisted: 11