Information flow control regulates where information is allowed to travel within a network and between interconnected networks. The flow of all network traffic must be monitored and controlled so it does not introduce any unacceptable risk to the network infrastructure or data.
Information flow control policies and enforcement mechanisms are commonly employed by organizations to control the flow of information between designated sources and destinations (e.g., networks, individuals, devices) within information systems. Examples of information flow control restrictions include keeping export controlled information from being transmitted in the clear to the Internet or blocking information marked as classified but is being transported to an unapproved destination.
ALGs enforce boundary protection by employing rule sets or configuration settings that restrict information system services, provide packet filtering capability based on header or protocol information and/or message filtering capability based on data content (e.g., implementing key word searches or using document characteristics). |