SonicWall NSA 4600 Network Security Appliance
Comprehensive Mid Range Next-Generation Firewall

Features & Benefits:

SonicOS Feature Summary

¹ Requires added subscription.

Additional Features:

Achieve deeper network security

SonicWall NSA Series firewalls are capable of providing organizations of any size with a deeper level of network security because they are designed using a scalable, multi-core hardware architecture and a patented, single-pass, low-latency, Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI) engine that can scan every byte of every packet while maintaining high performance. The SonicWall NSA Series goes deeper than other firewalls with an RFDPI engine that combines real-time SSL decryption and inspection, an intrusion prevention system (IPS) that features sophisticated anti-evasion technology and a network-based malware protection system that leverages the power of the cloud. Now organizations can block daily new threats as they appear.

It is estimated that organizations are blind to approximately one third of their network traffic due to SSL encryption. SSL Decryption and Inspection technology available on the SonicWall NSA Series enables the RFDPI engine to decrypt and inspect all of network traffic on every port.

Every hour new variants of malware are developed. The SonicWall NSA Series keeps you abreast of these threats with network-based malware protection that leverages a cloud database which is updated continually and currently contains more than 13 million variants of malware.

The SonicWall Intrusion Prevention Service (IPS) protects against an array of network-based application vulnerabilities and exploits. New application vulnerabilities are discovered every day making ongoing IPS updates critical in keeping protection up to date from emerging threats. SonicWall goes a step beyond traditional solutions with an intrusion prevention system that features sophisticated anti-evasion technology. It scans all network traffic for worms, Trojans, software vulnerabilities, backdoor exploits, and other types of malicious attacks. Cybercriminals often try to circumvent the IPS by using complex algorithms to evade detection. SonicWall NGFWs feature advanced threat protection to decode hidden attacks before they can harm your organization. By focusing on known malicious traffic, SonicWall IPS filters out false positives while increasing network reliability and performance. Designed to protect against both internal and external threats, SonicWall IPS monitors network traffic for malicious or anomalous behavior, then blocks or logs traffic based on predefined policy.

Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection engine

The SonicWall Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI) engine provides superior threat protection and application control without compromising performance. It relies on streaming traffic payload inspection to detect threats at Layers 3-7, and takes network streams through extensive and repeated normalization and decryption in order to neutralize advanced evasion techniques that seek to confuse detection engines and sneak malicious code into the network.

Once a packet undergoes the necessary pre-processing, including SSL decryption, it is analyzed against a single, proprietary memory representation of three signature databases: intrusion attacks, malware and applications. The connection state is then advanced to represent the position of the stream relative to these databases until it encounters a state of attack, or other "match" event, at which point a pre-set action is taken.

In most cases, the connection is terminated and proper logging and notification events are created. However, the engine can also be configured for inspection only or, in case of application detection, to provide Layer 7 bandwidth management services for the remainder of the application stream as soon as the application is identified.

Security and protection

The dedicated, in-house SonicWall Capture Labs threat research team researches and develops countermeasures to deploy to customer firewalls for up-to-date protection. The team gathers data on potential threats from several sources including our awardwinning network sandboxing service, Capture Advanced Threat Protection, as well as more than 1 million SonicWall sensors located around the globe that monitor traffic for emerging threats. It is analyzed via machine learning using SonicWall's Deep Learning Algorithms to extract the DNA from the code to see if it is related to any known forms of malicious code.

SonicWall NGFW customers benefit from continuously updated threat protection around the clock. New updates take effect immediately without reboots or interruptions. The signatures resident on the appliances are designed to protect against wide classes of attacks, covering tens of thousands of individual threats with a single signature.

In addition to the countermeasures on the appliance, NSA appliances also have access to SonicWall CloudAV, which extends the onboard signature intelligence with over 20 million signatures. This CloudAV database is accessed by the firewall via a proprietary, light-weight protocol to augment the inspection done on the appliance. With Capture Advanced Threat Protection, a cloud-based multi-engine sandbox, organizations can examine suspicious files and code in an isolated environment to stop advanced threats such as zeroday attacks.

Application intelligence and control

SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection Service is a cloud-based multi-engine sandbox that extends firewall threat protection to detect and prevent zero-day threats. Suspicious files are sent to the cloud for analysis with the option to hold them at the gateway until a verdict is determined. The multi-engine sandbox platform, which includes virtualized sandboxing, full system emulation and hypervisor level analysis technology, executes suspicious code and analyzes behavior. When a file is identified as malicious, a hash is immediately created within Capture and later a signature is sent to firewalls to prevent follow-on attacks.

The service analyzes a broad range of operating systems and file types, including executable programs, DLL, PDFs, MS Office documents, archives, JAR and APK.

Capture provides an at-a-glance threat analysis dashboard and reports, which detail the analysis results for files sent to the service, including source, destination and a summary plus details of malware action once detonated.

Global management and reporting

For highly regulated organizations wanting to achieve a fully coordinated security governance, compliance and risk management strategy, the optional SonicWall Global Management System (GMS) provides administrators a unified, secure and extensible platform to manage SonicWall firewalls, wireless access points and switches through a correlated and auditable workstream process. GMS enables enterprises to easily consolidate the management of security appliances, reduce administrative and troubleshooting complexities, and govern all operational aspects of the security infrastructure, including centralized policy management and enforcement; realtime event monitoring; user activities; application identifications; flow analytics and forensics; compliance and audit reporting; and more. GMS also meets the firewall’s change management requirements of enterprises through a workflow automation feature. With GMS workflow automation, all enterprises will gain agility and confidence in deploying the right firewall policies, at the right time and in conformance to compliance regulations. GMS provides a coherent way to manage network security by business processes and service levels, dramatically simplifying lifecycle management of your overall security environments as compared to managing on a device-by-device basis.

Flexible, Customizable Deployment Options:

NSA series at-a-glance

Every SonicWall NSA appliance utilizes a breakthrough, multi-core hardware design and RFDPI for internal and external network protection without compromising network performance. The NSA series NGFWs combine high-speed intrusion prevention, file and content inspection, and powerful application intelligence and control with an extensive array of advanced networking and flexible configuration features. The NSA series offers an affordable platform that is easy to deploy and manage in a wide variety of large, branch office and distributed network environments.

Specifications:

Notes:
¹ Testing Methodologies: Maximum performance based on RFC 2544 (for firewall). Actual performance may vary depending on network conditions and activated services.
² Full DPI/GatewayAV/Anti- Spyware/IPS throughput measured using industry standard Spirent WebAvalanche HTTP performance test and Ixia test tools. Testing done with multiple flows through multiple port pairs.
³ VPN throughput measured using UDP traffic at 1280 byte packet size adhering to RFC 2544. All specifications, features and availability are subject to change.
⁴ For every 125,000 DPI connections reduced, the number of available DPI SSL connections increases by 750.
All specifications, features and availability are subject to change.
*Future use.

Services & Add-Ons:

Advanced Gateway Security Suite (AGSS)

Leverage SonicWall Advanced Gateway Security Suite (AGSS) to deliver a multi-engine sandbox, powerful anti‐virus, anti‐spyware, intrusion prevention, content filtering, as well as application intelligence and control services. An upgrade over CGSS, this package features Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), a multi-engine sandbox that runs and inspects suspicious files, programs and code in an isolated cloud-based environment.

Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite (CGSS)

Get the most from your deep packet inspection firewall with the SonicWall Comprehensive Security Suite (CGSS) subscription. CGSS includes gateway anti-virus, anti-spyware, intrusion prevention, application intelligence and control service, content/URL filtering and 24x7 support. Combine security, productivity and support in a single, bundled solution that lowers TCO.

Gateway Security Services

Enable your business firewall to provide real-time network threat prevention with SonicWall gateway anti-virus, anti-spyware, intrusion prevention and application intelligence and control. Block the latest blended threats - including viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, software vulnerabilities and other malicious code. Guarantee bandwidth prioritization and ensure maximum network security and productivity with granular policies for both groups and users.

Capture Advanced Threat Protection

The cloud-based SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection Service scans a broad range of files to detect advanced threats, analyzes them in a multi-engine sandbox, blocks them prior to a security verdict, and rapidly deploys remediation signatures. The result is higher security effectiveness, faster response times and a lower total cost of ownership.

Content Filtering Services

Gain a cost-effective, easy-to-manage way to enforce protection and productivity policies, and block inappropriate, unproductive and dangerous web content in educational, business or government environments. SonicWall Content Filtering Service lets you control access to websites based on rating, IP address, URL and more. You get the ideal combination of control and flexibility to ensure the highest levels of protection and productivity, which you can configure and control from your network security appliance, eliminating the need for a costly, dedicated filtering solution. Extend enforcement of your internal policies to devices located outside the firewall perimeter by blocking unwanted internet content with the content filtering client.

Content Filtering Client

Extend the enforcement of web policies in IT-issued devices outside the network perimeter. Although it doesn't require a firewall, it can be optionally coupled with SonicWall Content Filtering Service as an ideal combination to keep students and employees off of dangerous or non-productive websites by switching to cloud-enforced policies even when they are using roaming devices.

Support Services

Benefit from advanced technical assistance and ongoing software and firmware updates with SonicWall Dynamic Support. The service includes:

• Telephone and web-based support 24x7
• Direct access to highly-trained senior support engineers
• Advance exchange hardware replacement in the event of a failure
• Access to electronic support tools

Total Secure Hardware & Services Bundle

Enjoy the convenience and affordability of deploying your firewall as a SonicWall Total Secure solution. This combines the hardware and services needed for comprehensive network protection from viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, key loggers and more - without the complexity of building your own security package.

Comprehensive Anti-Spam Service

Block threats from your email server and stop spam at the gateway by adding SonicWall Comprehensive Anti-Spam Service (CASS) to your SonicWall firewall. Rapidly deploy your spam firewall software with one-click activation of up to 250 users.

Enforced Client Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Software

Execute an innovative, multi-layered, anti-virus internet security strategy with SonicWall firewalls and Enforced Client Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software. You get SonicWall Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection anti-malware at the gateway, and enforced anti-virus protection at the endpoints. You can redirect any user with a non-compliant endpoint to a web page to install the latest Enforced Client Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software. Provide automatically updated security definitions to the endpoint as soon as they become available. Plus, you can automate enforcement to minimize administrative overhead.

Documentation:

Download the SonicWall NSA Series Datasheet (.PDF)