SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia: Why Your Company Needs a Network Firewall

A network firewall is security tool that prevent or limit unauthorized access to private networks, particularly intranets. Firewall policies define the only traffic that can be allowed to the network. Any other traffic is blocked. The network firewall acts as a communication liaison between external and internal devices.

A network firewall can be set up to ensure that all data entering or leaving the network must pass through it. It does this by inspecting each message and rejecting any that do not meet its security criteria. A firewall can be configured to allow users access to all resources while keeping out hackers, viruses and other malicious programs from accessing the network.

Firewalls may be hardware- or software-based. A firewall is able to restrict access to protected computers and networks, log all traffic entering and leaving the network, and manage remote access through secure logins and authentication certificates.

A firewall can be considered an endpoint protection technology. A firewall is not the only protection technology that can protect private information.

Firewalls can be relied on to protect corporate networks and homes. Firewalls are a simple program that scans all information sent over the network. This process can be customized to meet the specific needs of the user or the firewall’s capabilities. There are many types of firewalls that can block harmful information from entering the network.

Is your computer at risk without a network firewall?

If a computer has an IP address that is public, such as if it is connected to the internet via ethernet, then any network service running on the device could be made available to the outside world. An attack can also be possible on any computer network connected to the Internet. These networks are vulnerable to malicious attacks if they don’t have a firewall.

Firewalls are required to be placed between any network with an internet connection. Businesses should also establish computer security plans that include policies regarding data storage and external networks.

Network firewalls are more than just a way to secure your network in the cloud age. They can help you ensure uninterrupted network availability as well as robust access to cloud-hosted apps.

In recent years, firewall protection has advanced significantly. The latest network firewall security products include more features than just monitoring internet traffic. They also offer automation and integrated sandboxing.

Palo Alto Networks’ product marketing director, Navneet Sing said that the latest firewalls can stop an attacker from using stolen credentials to compromise networks and lateral movement. This is achieved by enforcing multifactor authentication at network layer.

Network firewalls are designed to allow only authorized traffic into an organization. Pre-set policies or rules are used to make decisions. IT support teams can modify or add to these policies as needed. Firewalls, like many other areas of technology have changed over time. They are now more flexible and efficient in deployment.

They can be deployed in virtual environments, protecting data from the cloud and remote branches. “Firewalls are also much more capable of integrating threat defense and intelligence to protect against various threats, including botnets and command and control servers (APTs), zero-day threats, and botnets,” Mihir Maniar, vice President of Security Business and Strategy, Juniper Networks.

IP communications are still built on many factors such as source, destination and IP addresses. Protocols, ports and URLs are all important. Therefore, packet filtering is still the most important element of firewall defense. It is also the best line of defense for an organization’s network.

A network security analyses traffic to determine whether packets (small segments) can be entered an internal network. It does this based on source, destination and ports as well as protocols. Maniar stated that static filtering was used initially to inspect only the packet headers. Hackers soon realized that they could simply change the packet header information to make their illicit traffic pass.

Both gateways and firewalls have similar functions. They both inspect traffic to prevent unauthorized access. The main difference lies in the location of inspections. Firewalls inspect traffic at the packet level and examine the header to determine its likely contents.

Web gateways work at the application level, and look at the protocols between applications to ensure they work together. It can block malicious traffic by applications depending on what it finds and its IT security features.

Email gateways filter incoming email in a similar way. These gateways are essential for protecting your company because 94% of malware is transmitted via email.