10 Best Firewall Courses and Certifications Online

Firewalls are an essential component of network security, serving as a first line of defense against external threats. As the number and complexity of cyber attacks continue to grow, the need for skilled firewall administrators is also increasing. Fortunately, the availability of online courses provides a convenient and cost-effective way for individuals to gain the knowledge and expertise required to effectively manage firewalls. In this article, we will explore some of the best online courses available for learning about firewalls, their features, and how to configure and maintain them for optimal security.

Here’s a look at the Best Firewall Courses and Certifications Online and what they have to offer for you!

10 Best Firewall Courses and Certifications Online

1. WAF BASICS- Part1 by Vineet Singh (Udemy) (Our Best Pick)

The WAF BASICS- Part1 course, instructed by Vineet Singh, provides participants with a comprehensive understanding of how to deploy, tune, and operate Application Security Manager (ASM) in order to safeguard their web applications from HTTP-based attacks. The course encompasses a variety of teaching methods, including lecture, hands-on labs, and discussion about different ASM components. Beginning with an overview of application traffic flow, participants will gain an understanding of how ASM behaves in the face of attacks and how to explore it as a WAF product.

The course will cover a range of topics including application traffic flow, initial setup of BIG-IP, basic traffic processing components on F5, HTTP headers, OWASP Top 10, security model, ways to deploy initial security policy on ASM, tuning of security policies, and attack signatures.

The course is divided into different sections and will begin with an introduction to the topic. Participants will then proceed to learn about the various topics listed above.

Overall, the WAF BASICS- Part1 course is designed to equip participants with a functional understanding of ASM and provide them with the necessary skills to implement effective security measures to protect their web applications from HTTP-based attacks.

2. Mastering Vyatta Firewall! (Beginner to Advanced) by Lamur Richnl (Udemy)

The course “Mastering Vyatta Firewall! (Beginner to Advanced)” is designed for individuals who want to learn everything about Vyatta, regardless of their level of experience with configuring a firewall. Vyatta is a software-based networking leader, and this course is built upon hands-on lab guided scenarios that walk learners through the process of installing, configuring, securing, and troubleshooting their network infrastructures. Upon completion of the course, learners will have advanced knowledge of network design and security.

The hands-on lab scenarios in this course cover a range of topics, including securing a network from scratch, scaling large BGP implementations, stateful-inspection firewall configuration, VPN connectivity for remote offices, scaling from DSL to 10-Gbps, virtualized networking environments, adding networking and security to data centers, offering cloud-based managed security services, adding network redundancy regardless of vendor equipment, and building a best-of-breed branch office solution.

The course has an introduction section, a hands-on lab setup section, a TCP/IP introduction, a system and services section, an interfaces section, a hands-on lab section that puts everything together, a routing section, a security section, and a conclusion section.

3. Sophos XG Firewall for Beginners-Part 1/2 by CyberSky Academy (Udemy)

The Sophos XG Firewall for Beginners-Part 1/2 course, offered by CyberSky Academy, aims to provide an extensive understanding of the XG Firewall V17.5 from scratch. The firewall offers comprehensive next-generation network protection, including unified user, application, and network control, on-box reports, patented Layer-8 Identity control, and the ability to block unknown threats, making it potent, powerful, and fast. It also includes several features such as synchronized security, a web application firewall, email protection, ransomware protection, phishing prevention, all firewall rules unified on a single screen, and a secure web gateway.

Throughout the course, students will gain hands-on experience with Sophos XG Firewall in a lab environment. The course will cover several topics, including Basic Configuration, Network Zones & Interface Configuration, Firewall Policies, Web Control & Application Control, WAN Load Balancing, SSL VPN & IPsec VPN, Captive Portal & User Authentication, Synchronized Security, Traffic Shaping, SSO Configuration, High Availability, IPS & Anti-Virus, and NAT. The course will include both feature lectures and hands-on labs.

The Sophos XG Firewall for Beginners-Part 1/2 course aims to equip students with the skills and expertise required to protect their organizations from security threats. The course is designed to dive deeper into Sophos XG Firewall Configuration, thereby giving students a clear understanding of several topics.

4. WAF BASICS- Part2 by Vineet Singh (Udemy)

Course Title: WAF BASICS- Part2

Course Instructors: Vineet Singh

Course Short Description: This course provides individuals with knowledge on how to deploy, tune, and operate Application Security Manager (ASM) to protect web applications from HTTP-based attacks. It includes lecture, hands-on labs, and discussions on ASM components.

Course Long Description: The Application Security Manager course is designed to give participants a functional understanding of how to secure web applications from HTTP-based attacks. The course covers a range of topics, including building a positive security policy, securing cookies and other headers, reporting and logging functionalities on ASM, static and dynamic parameter handling, and comparing security policies.

The course is divided into sections, with an introduction to ASM and an in-depth discussion about different ASM components. Participants will also learn about ASM deployment types.

Section 1: Approach towards building a positive security policy

Section 2: Securing Cookies and other headers

Section 3: Reporting and Logging Functionalities on ASM

Section 4: Static and Dynamic Parameter Handling

Section 5: Comparing Security Policies

Section 6: ASM deployment types

The course is delivered through a combination of lecture, hands-on labs, and discussions. By the end of the course, participants will have gained practical experience and knowledge to deploy, tune, and operate ASM for web application security.

5. WAF BASICS- Part3 by Vineet Singh (Udemy)

Course Title: WAF BASICS- Part3

Course Instructors: Vineet Singh

Course Short Description: The Application Security Manager Basics course aims to teach participants how to deploy, tune, and operate Application Security Manager (ASM) to secure their web applications against HTTP-based attacks.

Course Long Description: The Application Security Manager course is designed to provide a functional understanding of ASM and its components. The course includes lectures, hands-on labs, and discussions on various ASM features. Participants will learn about the process of policy creation using templates and automatic policy building. Additionally, they will explore the integration of ASM with Vulnerability Scanners, the use of layered policies, and how to enforce login and protect the application from Brute Force.

The course also covers the details of session tracking and Web Scraping. Finally, participants will learn how to protect their application against DOS.

Course Content and Sections:

Introduction:
The course provides a brief introduction to ASM and its significance in web application security.

Topics Covered:
1. Use of Templates for policy creation.
2. Process of Automatic Policy building.
3. Integration of ASM with Vulnerability Scanners.
4. Use of Layered policies.
5. Enforce login and protection of application from Brute Force.
6. Details of Session tracking and Web Scraping.
7. Protecting your application against DOS.

The course is designed to equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to deploy and operate ASM effectively.

6. Mastering Iptables Firewall by Vipin Gupta (Udemy)

The Mastering Iptables Firewall course, taught by Vipin Gupta, is designed to provide participants with knowledge and skills required to handle Iptables Firewall in a professional way. The course starts with an overview of security in IT industry and the necessity of a robust, flexible, affordable, and open source-based security solution. The course will cover basics of Firewall and progress to in-depth knowledge of Iptables Firewall.

The Iptables Firewall is a stateful, open source, and highly flexible firewall that prevents unauthorized communication to, from, and through a system. The course will cover several different scenarios to help participants understand the power of Linux-based Iptables firewall. The course will discuss different aspects of Firewall including blocking traffic, blocking access to servers, blocking ICMP traffic, and more.

The course is divided into different sections including Firewall Introduction, IPTables Firewall Lab Setup Details, and How to use DNAT and SNAT. Participants will also learn about directional filtering, connection tracking, default policy, and different firewall approaches. The course will teach participants how to allow access to services in default “DROP” policy and how to use “REJECT” target.

The course will also cover how to create and use custom chains and the advantages of using them. Additionally, participants will learn about different firewall options available. An optional lab setup is also provided for participants who wish to practice and apply their knowledge of Iptables Firewall.

7. SonicWall Firewall Administration Course by Hamza Benhamani (Udemy)

The SonicWall Firewall Administration Course is designed to provide practical guidance on how to manage a SonicWall Firewall from the ground up. The course is delivered in a series of labs, which allow students to install, configure, manage, and troubleshoot their SonicWall firewall. The labs ensure that students gain hands-on experience, which is critical to developing a thorough understanding of the concepts.

The course relies on Vmware Workstation, which is used to install a virtual SonicWall NSV200. The instructor will show students how to obtain the firewall image and license it. The coursework covers a range of topics that are crucial for an administrator to be proficient in, including basic setup, interface configuration, zones, configuration backup and restore, email two-factor authentication, port forwarding, access rules, authentication, SSO authentication, LDAP integration, IPSEC and SSL VPN, high availability, WAN failover, SD-WAN, security services, geo IP filter, and more.

The course is still in development, and some of the lectures are currently unavailable. However, the instructor will upload them as soon as they are ready. The course is divided into several sections, including Introduction, Lab Setup, Administration, Network, Authentication, Access Rules, High Availability, and VPN. Students are encouraged to start their journey with SonicWall Firewall and ask questions if they have any.

8. Sophos XG Firewall for Beginners-Part 2/2 by CyberSky Academy (Udemy)

CyberSky Academy offers a course titled “Sophos XG Firewall for Beginners-Part 2/2,” which aims to teach students how to master the use of Sophos Firewall v18.5. This next-generation firewall provides comprehensive protection against hidden risks, unknown threats, and incidents. The all-new Xstream Architecture delivers extreme levels of visibility, protection, and performance.

The Xstream SSL Inspection feature provides users with unprecedented visibility into encrypted traffic flows, supports TLS 1.3 without downgrading, and offers powerful policy tools and extreme performance. Additionally, AI-powered Threat Intelligence extends protection against zero-day threats and emerging ransomware variants through multiple best-in-class machine learning models and unmatched insights into suspicious files entering a network.

Application Acceleration optimizes network performance by routing important application traffic on the fast path through the firewall and reliably out preferred WAN connections. Synchronized SD-WAN brings the power of Synchronized Security to accurately route application and user-based traffic over preferred WAN links. Firewall, NAT, and SSL Inspection rules and policies are now more powerful, flexible, and easier to work with than ever before. Finally, plug-and-play high-availability (HA) makes it easy to enable business continuity and adds peace-of-mind – simply connect two XG Series appliances together and be up and running in no time.

Real-time flow monitoring provides at-a-glance insights into active bandwidth consuming hosts, applications, and users. The course aims to teach students to install, configure, manage, and use Sophos Firewall v18 and Advanced Use cases. Students will gain the skills and expertise needed to protect their organization from security threats. The course includes both feature lecture and hands-on labs to provide students with a lab environment to gain hands-on experience with Sophos Firewall v18.

The course dives deeper into Sophos Firewall Advanced Configuration to give students a clear understanding of several topics.

9. Cisco ASA Firewall 9.X Training by sikandar Shaik (Udemy)

The Cisco ASA Firewall 9.X Training Course, instructed by Sikandar Shaik, covers the basics of the Cisco ASA firewall and offers in-depth instruction on configuring NAT, IPsec VPN, SSL VPN, and more. The course offers advanced options such as multiple security contexts, clustering, transparent or routed firewall operation, and advanced inspection engines. The course also covers hardware and software compatibility, VPN compatibility, new features, firewall and VPN functional overviews, ASA clustering, and special and legacy services.

The Cisco ASA Firewall Classes provide proactive threat defense to prevent attacks before they spread throughout the network. The course is designed for security experts in companies and organizations worldwide to assist them in designing, implementing, maintaining, and troubleshooting network security solutions utilizing the Cisco ASA Firewall. The course provides the necessary skills and knowledge required to handle Cisco network environments for companies and associations worldwide, ensuring users receive the required benchmark safety certificate from the Cisco ASA firewall.

The Cisco ASA Firewall Training includes modules on configuring failover, higher availability virtual private networks, site-to-site virtual private networks, secure socket layer virtual private networks, remote access virtual private network, and advanced protocol handling. The course also includes sections on workbook downloads, lab options, virtual labs with GNS3, EVE-NG virtual platform, firewall introduction, Cisco ASA firewall, Cisco ASA CLI configuration, ASA ACLs-object groups, ASA remote access, ASDM GUI interface, ASA network address translation, ASA interface redundancy, ASA security contexts, ASA failover, ASA clustering modes, ASA transparent firewall, SSL VPN overview, ASDM lab setup remote VPN, SSL clientless VPN configuration, bookmarks-group URL and alias, SSL VPN port forwarding, smart tunnels-SSL VPN, and full client SSL VPN-anyconnect.

10. Master OPNsense Firewall Part 1 by Khaled Alnaji (Udemy)

The “Master OPNsense Firewall Part 1” course, instructed by Khaled Alnaji, focuses on the use of the open source firewall OPNsense to provide network protection. The course covers the use of features such as WAN Failover, IPS, and ClamAV.

The course offers an easy-to-manage and free firewall solution that can be configured by anyone. OPNsense not only functions as a firewall, but also as a router, DHCP server, DNS server, VPN server, antivirus server, IPS, captive portal, and more. In addition, OPNsense can be extended using a variety of plugins.

The course is conducted in a practical lab using a virtual environment (VMware) for the installation and implementation of the OPNsense firewall. All configurations and settings are tested in the virtual environment, with an aim to simulate a real case in implementing OPNsense.

This course is designed for anyone interested in learning about the open source OPNsense firewall. The instructor commits to regular updates and answering all course-related questions.

The course is divided into several sections, including an introduction, OPNsense firewall, installation of OPNsense, basic configuration, interface and IP addressing, firewall rules and port forwarding, multi WAN failover, security services, and troubleshooting and validation.