Open-source firewalls for industrial applications: a laboratory study of Linux IPFire behavior*

Open-source software firewalls are becoming a viable solution to protect industrial networked systems and critical infrastructures. In fact, the adoption of technologies and devices originally conceived for general purpose computer networks and the consumer market has been proven to both reduce costs and enhance performance also in the industrial scenario. The goal of this paper is to start investigating the behavior of Linux IPFire in the light of its possible adoption in industrial applications and to provide a baseline for the development of techniques designed to improve the filtering capabilities in multi-firewall networks.