Rule Set 3: All traffic from the trusted network is allowed out. As a general rule it is wise
not to restrict outbound traffic, unless separate routers and firewalls are configured to handle
it, to avoid overloading the firewall. If an organization wants control over outbound
traffic, it should use a separate filtering device. The rule shown in Table 6-8 allows internal
communications out, and as such would be used on the outbound interface.
Why should rule set 3 come after rule set 1 and 2? It makes sense to allow the rules that
unambiguously impact the most traffic to be earlier in the list. The more rules a firewall
must process to find one that applies to the current packet, the slower the firewall will run.
Therefore, most widely applicable rules should come first since the firewall employs the first
rule that applies to any given packet.
Rule Set 4: The rule set for the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) data is shown in
Table 6-9. As shown, the packets governed by this rule are allowed to pass through the firewall,
but are all routed to a well-configured SMTP gateway. It is important that e-mail traffic
reach your e-mail server and only your e-mail server. Some attackers try to disguise dangerous
packets as e-mail traffic to fool a firewall. If such packets can reach only the e-mail
server, and the e-mail server has been properly configured, the rest of the network ought to
be safe. Note that if the organization allows home access to an internal e-mail server, then it
may wish to implement a second, separate server to handle the POP3 protocol that retrieves
mail for e-mail clients like Outlook and Thunderbird. This is usually a low-risk operation,
especially if e-mail encryption is in place. More challenging is the sending of e-mail using
the SMTP protocol, a service attractive to spammers who may seek to hijack an outbound
mail server.
272 Chapter 6
Source Address Source Port Destination Address Destination Port Action
Any Any 10.10.10.1 Any Deny
Any Any 10.10.10.2 Any Deny
10.10.10.1 Any Any Any Deny
10.10.10.2 Any Any Any Deny
Table 6-7 Rule Set 2
Source Address Source Port Destination Address Destination Port Action
10.10.10.0 Any Any Any Allow
Table 6-8 Rule Set 3
Source Address Source Port D