GUI & CLI – What You May Not Know

The Graphic User Interface (GUI) is designed to be as intuitive as possible but there are always a few things that are left out because to put all of that information on the interface would clutter it up to the point where it wouldn’t be graphical and intuitive anymore.

This section is made up of knowledge that will make working with the both of the management interfaces easier because you wont have to find out about things like field limitations through trial and error. Some of it has to do with changing in how navigation in the GUI has changed.

The section includes the topics:

• Mouse Tricks
• Changing the default column setting on the policy page
• Naming Rules and Restrictions
• Character Restrictions
• Length of Fields Restrictions l  Object Tagging and Coloring l  Numeric Values
• Selecting options from a list
• Enabling or disabling options
• To Enable or Disable Optionally Displayed Features

Mouse Tricks

In previous version of the firmware much of the navigation, editing or choosing of options in the Web-based Manager was carried out by using the mouse in combination with a number of icons visible on the interface. This version of the firmware makes more extensive use of the right or secondary mouse button as well as the “drag and drop” feature. If you are used to the old Web-based Manager interface you will notice that a number of the options at the top of the display window are not there anymore or there are fewer of them.

To get a feel for the new approach the Policy & Objects > Policy > IPv4 window is a noticeable place to see some of these changes in action.

The different view modes are still in the upper right-hand corner as they were before but now there is no column settings link to move or configure the columns of the window. Now if you wish to reposition a column just use the mouse to click on the column heading and drag it to its new position. If you wish to add a new column just right- click on one of the column headings and a drop down menu will appear with the option “Column Settings”. Use the right pointing triangle to expand the “Column Settings” option to see a choice of possible columns for the window you are in. Those already selected will be at the top with a checked box and the available new ones will be at the bottom ready to be selected.

Rather than having a link to initiate a move in the positioning of policies in the sequence, you can select a policy and hold down the mouse button and drag it to its new position.

By right or secondary clicking the mouse curser in the cells of the Policy window you will get a drop down menu that is contextual to the column and policy row where you made the clck.For example if you right click in the “Schedule” column for the row that is for policy #5 you will get the option to select a schedule for policy #5 along with a number of other configuration options relating to that policy or its position in the sequence of policies.

You will find this approach used much more frequently through out the Web-based Manager, giving it a more modern and intuitive feel once you learn to use the right mouse button rather than finding a link displayed on the page.

Network defense

This section describes in general terms the means by which attackers can attempt to compromise your network and steps you can take to protect it. The goal of an attack can be as complex as gaining access to your network and the privileged information it contains, or as simple as preventing customers from accessing your web server. Even allowing a virus onto your network can cause damage, so you need to protect against viruses and malware even if they are not specifically targeted at your network.

The following topics are included in this section:

• Monitoring
• Blocking external probes
• Defending against DoS attacks

Monitoring

Monitoring, in the form of logging, alert email, and SNMP, does not directly protect your network. But monitoring allows you to review the progress of an attack, whether afterwards or while in progress. How the attack unfolds may reveal weaknesses in your preparations. The packet archive and sniffer policy logs can reveal more details about the attack. Depending on the detail in your logs, you may be able to determine the attackers location and identity.

While log information is valuable, you must balance the log information with the resources required to collect and store it.