Which of the following is an advantage of NGFW over a firewall?

The advantage of next-generation firewalls (NGFW) over traditional firewalls is that they provide the capability to filter packets based on applications. This feature is crucial because it allows organizations to inspect traffic at a deeper level than just addressing and port information.

By analyzing the actual content of the packets and identifying the applications generating the traffic, NGFWs can enforce security policies that are application-aware. This means they can allow, block, or limit traffic based on the specific application in use, rather than simply treating traffic based on its port or protocol. For instance, an NGFW can differentiate between legitimate web traffic and potentially harmful application-specific traffic, thus providing more granular control and improved security.

In contrast, other options like dynamic packet filtering, static packet filtering, and VPN support, while relevant features of network security, do not specifically highlight the advanced capabilities that NGFWs introduce compared to traditional firewalls. Dynamic and static packet filtering focus primarily on basic packet characteristics rather than application awareness, while VPN support is a standard feature in many types of firewalls and doesn't uniquely define the advantage of NGFW. Therefore, the application-centric filtering provided by NGFW is markedly more sophisticated and essential in today’s threat landscape.