How to Investigate Unauthorized Outbound Traffic Using Firewall Logs

This document presents a concise, five-step framework for investigating unfamiliar outbound network connections—assessing destination and traffic behavior, identifying the originating user/host/application, validating the firewall policy that permitted access, reviewing policy exposure and configuration history, and correlating VPN/remote-access context—and explains how ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer centralizes firewall, VPN, proxy, policy, and configuration-change reporting to speed investigations, support audits, and reduce exposure.