What is NOT a benefit of using application-layer gateways?

Application-layer gateways, also known as proxy firewalls, provide several key benefits, primarily involving enhanced security and policy enforcement for specific applications.

Enforcement of specific security policies is a significant advantage, as these gateways can examine application traffic and apply rules that dictate what is permissible based on detailed application-layer data. This allows organizations to implement precise and tailored security measures.

Improvement of data integrity is also a notable benefit, as application-layer gateways can help ensure that data is not altered or compromised in transit. They can validate and filter traffic to ensure that only legitimate data packets are transmitted.

Specific function enforcement for applications is crucial, as these gateways can manage and regulate the functions and features of different applications. For instance, they can limit certain functionalities of an application to mitigate risks associated with vulnerabilities.

In contrast, the reduction of bandwidth usage is not typically considered a primary benefit of application-layer gateways. While they may optimize application performance through caching or other techniques, their primary purpose revolves around security and access control rather than directly minimizing bandwidth. Therefore, choosing this as the option that does NOT represent a benefit aligns with the fundamental functions of application-layer gateways.