Performance and Information Security Evaluation with Firewalls Thaier Hayajneh, Bassam J. Mohd , Awni Itradat, and Ahmad Nahar Quttoum Computer Engineering Department, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan Emails: Thaier@hu.edu.jo, Bassam@hu.edu.jo, itradat@hu.edu.jo, quttoum@hu.edu.jo Abstract Firewalls are an essential part of any information security system being the first defense line against security attacks. The sea-saw effect between firewalls and network performance is most concerning to network users; where strict security settings result in weak network performance and permeant security settings allow for a stronger one. Hence, evaluating firewall platforms and their impact on network performance is important when assessing the effectiveness of network security. In this paper, we present an assessment methodol- ogy to analyze the performance of different firewalls platforms. The analysis considers the following metrics: delay, jitter, throughput, and packet loss. Moreover, the information security of the firewalls is also tested by applying a set of attacks and observing the reaction of the firewalls. The proposed assessment methodology is tested by performing real exper- iments on different types of firewalls including those that are personal and network-based. Moreover, a quantitative study is conducted to explore the level of knowledge among the educated category in the community, represented by a sample of college students, on the importance of firewall and their use. Keywords: Firewalls evaluation, Firewalls attacks, network-based firewalls, Personal firewalls 1: Introduction The concept of having an institution or organization network as an isolated LAN is no longer applicable. Everyone wants to be online and have Internet access. This accessibility is intriguing to attackers with malicious intentions to breach the network and access its assets. Attempting to protect workstations individually is not practical. A better solution is to use a firewall to isolate the LAN from the Internet and examine all the traffic going in and out of the network. The integration between intranet and the Internet requires a secure gatekeeper to protect against network-based security attacks. Firewalls usually protect the network from such threats while continuing to allow information exchange with the outside world. Hence, defining a firewall as a device providing a perimeter security is not a valid definition. Although system administrators work to enforce their network traffic to pass through the firewall, some internal users continue to have an Internet connection that bypasses the firewall. A firewall must guarantee that only authorized users access an operating system or a computer connected to a network, securing by that private information and defending International Journal of Security and Its Applications Vol.7, No.6 (2013), pp.355-372 http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/ijsia.2013.7.6.36 ISSN: 1738-9976 IJSIA Copyright ⓒ 2013 SERSC