Chapter 12 Firewall
PMG2006-T20A User’s Guide
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12.1.2 What You Need to Know
SYN Attack
A SYN attack floods a targeted system with a series of SYN packets. Each packet causes the targeted
system to issue a SYN-ACK response. While the targeted system waits for the ACK that follows the SYN-
ACK, it queues up all outstanding SYN-ACK responses on a backlog queue. SYN-ACKs are moved off the
queue only when an ACK comes back or when an internal timer terminates the three-way handshake.
Once the queue is full, the system will ignore all incoming SYN requests, making the system unavailable
for legitimate users.
DoS
Denials of Service (DoS) attacks are aimed at devices and networks with a connection to the Internet.
Their goal is not to steal information, but to disable a device or network so users no longer have access
to network resources. The PMG2006-T20A is pre-configured to automatically detect and thwart all
known DoS attacks.
DDoS
A DDoS attack is one in which multiple compromised systems attack a single target, thereby causing
denial of service for users of the targeted system.
LAND Attack
In a LAND attack, hackers flood SYN packets into the network with a spoofed source IP address of the
target system. This makes it appear as if the host computer sent the packets to itself, making the system
unavailable while the target system tries to respond to itself.
Ping of Death
Ping of Death uses a "ping" utility to create and send an IP packet that exceeds the maximum 65,536
bytes of data allowed by the IP specification. This may cause systems to crash, hang or reboot.
SPI
Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) tracks each connection crossing the firewall and makes sure it is valid.
Filtering decisions are based not only on rules but also context. For example, traffic from the WAN may
only be allowed to cross the firewall in response to a request from the LAN.
12.2 The Firewall Screen
Use this screen to set the security level of the firewall on the PMG2006-T20A, and block unauthorized
access to your network. Firewall rules are grouped based on the direction of travel of packets to which
they apply. Note that a higher firewall level means more restrictions to the Internet activities you want to
perform.
Click
Security > Firewall
to display the
General
screen.
