Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)

Deep packet inspection (DPI), also called complete packet inspection and information extraction (IX) is a technique for inspecting data in order to identify and filter out malware and other unwanted traffic.

Each data packet includes both its own content and a set of headers that control how it is handled by routers and other devices as it is transmitted across the internet. DPI is a method that inspects not only the packet’s multiple headers, but also the actual data content of the packet. DPI can search for protocol non-compliance, viruses, spam, intrusions, or defined criteria to decide whether the packet may pass or if it needs to be routed to a different destination. This makes it a critical tool for advanced IT security.

Deep packet inspection (and filtering) enables advanced network management, user service, and security functions as well as internet data mining, eavesdropping, and internet censorship. DPI is used in a wide range of enterprise-level applications, by telecommunications service providers, and by governments.

In the age of fast-evolving advanced threats and zero-day attacks, DPI is also a critical and fundamental aspect of an effective network security strategy.

To optimize the security of your network, you need to subject every data packet in every stream of network traffic to Deep Packet Inspection. The Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is, at its heart, a high-performance stateful deep packet inspection engine that analyzes headers as well as the content of every passing packet. Malformed packets are disregarded, protecting the infrastructure behind the Barracuda device against network level attacks. Packets that are found to comply with protocols are then checked against defined firewall rules, to block prohibited content.

By combining DPI with the rest of its full stack of security capabilities, CloudGen Firewall ensures a high level of security, keeping a wide range of threats from ever touching your network.