Best Practices for Interface Management Profiles

🔐 Administrative Interfaces (e.g., MGT or dedicated Layer 3 interfaces)

These interfaces are intended exclusively for firewall administration.

• Restrict Access to Trusted IPs: Define specific IP addresses or subnets permitted to access the interface. If no IPs are specified, all access is denied by default. [Reference]
• Enable Only Secure Management Protocols: Activate protocols like HTTPS and SSH for secure access. Avoid enabling HTTP or Telnet, as they transmit data in plaintext. [Reference]
• Avoid Exposure to Untrusted Networks: Do not enable management access from the internet or untrusted zones within your enterprise. Ensure that administrative interfaces are isolated from general user traffic. [Reference]
• Implement Role-Based Access Controls: Assign Admin Role Profiles to limit administrative privileges to necessary areas. Create unique accounts for each administrator or service to ensure accountability. [Reference]
• Configure Session Security Settings: Set login timeouts to prevent prolonged idle sessions. Specify the number of failed login attempts before lockout and define lockout durations to mitigate brute-force attacks. [Reference]

🌐 User-Facing Interfaces (e.g., Interfaces in Security Zones)

These interfaces handle regular user traffic and should have minimal management exposure.

• Limit Management Services: Avoid enabling administrative services (e.g., HTTPS, SSH) on these interfaces. If necessary, enable only essential services like Ping for connectivity checks. [Reference]
• Enable Necessary User Services: If using features like Captive Portal or User-ID, enable the corresponding services:
  • Response Pages for Captive Portal.
  • User-ID services for user identification. [Reference]
• Restrict Access to Specific IPs: Define permitted IP addresses to control which devices can access the interface. This helps prevent unauthorized access from within the user network. [Reference]
• Avoid Enabling Insecure Protocols: Do not enable HTTP or Telnet on user-facing interfaces, as they are insecure. [Reference]

🧩 Summary Table

Setting	Administrative Interfaces	User-Facing Interfaces
Permitted IP Addresses	Trusted Admin IPs	Specific User Subnets
HTTPS/SSH	Enable	Disable
HTTP/Telnet	Disable	Disable
Ping	Optional	Optional
Response Pages	Optional	Enable if needed
User-ID Services	Optional	Enable if needed
SNMP	Optional	Optional
Role-Based Access	Implement	Not Applicable
Session Security Settings	Configure	Not Applicable