What is the purpose of a Stealth Rule?

Hiding a server's IP address from external networks is accomplished through NAT (Network Address Translation) rules, not the Stealth Rule.

Administrator access to SmartDashboard or SmartConsole is controlled by explicit allow rules or management access settings, not the Stealth Rule, which drops rather than grants access.

The Stealth Rule is placed early in the rulebase and targets the firewall's own IP address as the destination, ensuring that any connection attempt directed at the firewall - such as unauthorized management access or direct attacks - is silently dropped unless a specific preceding rule explicitly permits it, thus shielding the firewall from direct exposure.

A rule at the end of the policy that drops all traffic not explicitly permitted is called the Cleanup Rule - the Stealth Rule is distinct in that it specifically protects the firewall's own address and is placed near the top of the rulebase.