There will be a time when you will need to block traffic from your website. Not only that, but you probably want your computer and network protected from harmful software as well. This is what a firewall accomplishes for you. Keep reading to learn more about this essential device.
What does a firewall do?
Imagine a fire blazing in one room and not in the room over. Between the two rooms stands an impenetrable wall that will keep the fire contained to the one room and never let it pass through inside the other room. This is similar to what a firewall does for your computer or network. The firewall will assess all incoming traffic, and only traffic that is allowed to pass, deemed by preexisting criteria such as IP address, will be allowed through the firewall.
A firewall operates on a set of rules, a list of criteria used to determine what sources are allowed to access your computer or network. A firewall’s most common criteria for its rules is an IP address, which keeps unrecognized devices from accessing your computer. The firewall uses these rules to determine what sources are either unrecognized or unwanted.
Firewalls generally come preinstalled on your computer, but you will need to continue to check it for updates.
Types of firewalls
Proxy firewalls
This is a pretty simple type of firewall that hides your identity through a proxy. Proxy servers block your IP address, so your exact device and location can’t be found. These firewalls are helpful for maintaining personal online privacy.
Packet-filtering firewall
Packet-filtering is the most common and straightforward kind of firewall. Packet-filtering firewalls sort through packets of data, which it allows through or denies based on the established rules. Packet-filtering firewalls can be either stateful or stateless. Stateful firewalls retain information about previously inspected data, while stateless firewalls do not.
Next-generation firewall
Next-generation firewalls take the feature of packet-filtering firewalls and make them more complex and secure. Next-generation firewalls inspect many more packet elements than other methods, allowing them to protect against more advanced security threats.
Virtual firewalls
Most firewalls exist as physical hardware or software installed directly on the single server or computer it protects. But with cloud servers expanding in popularity, virtual firewalls have also become a popular option. Virtual firewalls operate in multiple locations and manage the security of every network in the cloud system.
Additionally, firewalls can be deployed at multiple levels. For example, an entire system can have a primary firewall that blocks the bulk of threats. Additional firewalls protect each device connected to the system to block any threats that somehow pass through the first firewall.
