What is firewall

Firewalls are very important security tool which can be hardware or software even virtual.

Firewalls monitor incoming and outgoing traffic and allow or block traffic based on predetermined rules.

The primary purpose of firewalls are to border between trusted internal network and untrusted external network such as the internet.

Firewalls protect your network from cyberattacks. You can decide what kind of network traffic can come in to the network and what is not based on rules you set. You can also use a firewall for installation process.

If you only allow to install specific applications that prevents malicious installation process from an attacker.

An attacker can be your organization’s staff or your known friend so setting rules in a firewall is more important than you probably think.

A firewall is a network security device or software that monitors and filters incoming and outgoing network traffic based on an organization’s previously established security policies. At its most basic, a firewall is essentially the barrier that sits between a private internal network and the public Internet. The primary purpose of a firewall is to allow non-threatening traffic in and to keep dangerous traffic out.

Types of Firewalls

1. Packet Filtering Firewalls: These work by inspecting individual packets in isolation and allowing or blocking them based on the origin or destination IP address, port number, and protocol used.
2. Stateful Inspection Firewalls: Also known as dynamic packet filtering, these firewalls keep track of the state of active connections and make decisions based on the context of the traffic and state of the connection.
3. Proxy Firewalls (Application-Level Gateways): These firewalls act as an intermediary between two end systems. The firewall receives requests from a client, evaluates the requests based on the firewall’s rule set, and then forwards the request to the server if the connection is permitted.
4. Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW): These combine the capabilities of traditional firewalls with additional features like encrypted traffic inspection, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), and the ability to identify and block sophisticated attacks by enforcing security policies at the application level.
5. Web Application Firewalls (WAF): Specifically designed to protect web applications and websites from various attacks, such as cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and session hijacking. WAFs are typically deployed to protect a specific web application or set of web applications.

Key Features of Firewalls

• Traffic Filtering: Based on IP addresses, protocols, programs, and other criteria.
• VPN Support: For secure remote access.
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention: To identify and block potential threats.
• Application Awareness: Ability to identify and control applications.
• User Identity and Device Awareness: Enforce security policies based on user identity and device type.

Importance of Firewalls

• Protect Against External Threats: By blocking malicious traffic, firewalls protect resources from various types of attacks coming from the outside.
• Prevent Unauthorized Access: Help to prevent unauthorized access to the network by enforcing access policies.
• Data Protection: Protect sensitive data from external and internal threats.
• Regulatory Compliance: Assist in meeting compliance requirements with various standards and regulations by providing necessary security controls.

When configuring and managing firewalls, it’s essential to regularly update firewall rules, monitor firewall logs for suspicious activity, and ensure that the firewall firmware or software is always up to date to protect against the latest threats.