Think about Network Firewall as your business’s personal guard. Is considered the endpoint protection of IT… The first line of defense.
It works as a barrier between your internal network all of that traffic coming from external sources (such as the internet)… Block malicious threats (viruses) that tries to sneak in.
Firewalls aren’t new, but they’re as important as ever. Smartphone and Internet of Things (IoT) devices are present everywhere.
Therefore, let’ discover how do they work exactly, to then learn how to protect it better.
How does Firewall work?
If IP addresses are houses, then port numbers are the rooms within.
You wouldn’t allow strange people to enter the house. You would live peacefully only when you filter which members of the family enter each specific room (specific ports).
If your company doesn’t have this type of firewall filter configured, then you can be sure that all the computers and networks have available, vulnerable entrance to anyone’s that desires to get in.
In this case, the intruders of the house are malicious hackers that can exploit what they want, as they want it to. Without Network Firewalls, computers are publicly addressable to the exterior world.
Why is it important then?
Because malicious attacks can present in so many different ways…
- Remote login: Cybercriminals can steal clients’ or employees’ data out of you.
- Denial of service (DoS): Brute force is used when sending multiple session requests to unsearchable servers… Causing massive crashes due to the overwhelming attack.
- Email bomb: Like the previous one, hackers will seek to crash your email serves by sending uncontrollable amounts of emails to your inbox.
- Macros: Hackers are capable of creating a script that runs into your computer to crash it at their will.
- Malware: Mostly viruses, that multiplies through hardware or the network servers, destroying all the business’s data in minutes. (may cause loss of millions of dollars).
Are you convinced now on the importance of having Network Firewall properly settled-up?
If the answer is “YES”, click on the link above to gets yours.
If the answer still is “No”, then keep reading…
All 8 Types of Firewall
Firewalls can either be software, hardware, and other times Could-based.
It’s considerably better for you to be equipped with all of them, if possible.
- Software firewall: They are installed on individual computers to regulate traffic (through applications and port numbers). This is the most common in corporations, sometimes also sold as a built-in router component.
- Physical firewall: They might come with at least 4 network ports, for multiple system’s connections… But there are larger firewall solutions for bigger networks.
- Cloud firewall: Also known as Firewall-as-a-service (FaaS), they’re among the most scalable and often most accessible of all. It has the great advantage of hosting large traffic waves without collapsing (of course, you pay for its capacity).
And beyond that scope, there are 5 different types of major firewall that prevent harmful information from passing through the network: - Packet-filtering firewalls: The traditional, but sometimes limited, packets and prohibit unwanted traffic. A set of rules is established, and only specific packets are allowed to enter. Stateful packet-filtering firewalls keep track of every passing packet so it learns to identify what to let in and what do not… On the other hand, stateless firewalls analyze individuals as new, being more vulnerable.
- Circuit-level gateways: Security mechanisms are used once the UDP/TCP connection is established. has been made. So packets exchange between hosts without filters.
- Stateful inspection firewalls: 3rd Gen. firewall technology classifies traffic based on the destination port and tracks packet interaction between internal connections. They also keep track of all packets that passed.
- Proxy Firewalls (Application-level gateways): Compared to others, this one works as the intermediary between two end-systems. Requests are sent for evaluation to the firewall, where it monitors HTTP, FTP, and similar protocols (with stateful and deep packet inspection).
- Next-gen firewalls: They now in-built anti-virus, encrypted traffic evaluation, intrusion alerts systems, and deep-packet inspection, among other features.
Do you Need Network Firewall?
If you don’t have any problem getting all your private information stolen, then you don’t need it.
Instead, if you care about your personal security and business assets…. Then the answer is “YES”, you definitely need Network Firewall protection.
Network Firewalls guarantee internet connection and device protection, so businesses should assign these into their security plans.
The question now is… Which Firewall should you use?
It depends entirely on your network’s capacity and how much resources you want to protect with them.
But still, this might save your business’s life: No single protective measures are enough to be 100% safe. Instead, consider multiple layers of firewalls, making it harder for hackers to reach or destroy all your sensitive data.
Need help finding the ideal firewall that your business needs?
Let’s talk. The MyITGuy team will find the perfect match that you require.