What is a Firewall?

A firewall is a set of hardware and software that filters local and incoming traffic according to parameters previously set by the administrator. The main purpose of a firewall is to protect information from intruders and filter traffic.

Firewall is a comprehensive protection which is considered mandatory for any corporate network. In addition to filtering traffic the firewall has another important function - to protect confidential data from leakage, as well as to protect against unauthorized access to the network by malicious software.

The auxiliary (secondary) functions of a firewall screen may include:

• logging of all events;
• recording suspicious activity;
• keeping records of network equipment;
• analysis of port use and network connections;
• filtering of different types of data, etc.

Firewall capabilities

The firewall is used for:

• Filtering traffic, blocking applications that try to access unprotected system services.
• Prevent unauthorized access to data from intruders and suppress attempts to send confidential information.
• Providing control over access to network equipment and ports.
• Logging network-wide and recording application/hardware activity in statistics.
• Sending notifications when suspicious activity is detected or an attempt is made to attack the enterprise network.
• The firewall alone cannot guarantee complete protection of network equipment from malicious software and intruder activity. A firewall is not an alternative to antivirus software.

The greatest effectiveness of the firewall can be achieved when it works in conjunction with other protection mechanisms (hardware and software). A firewall and an anti-virus are quite different in principle:

• A firewall can detect and remove virus software that is already present on a computer.
• An anti-virus, on the other hand, prevents malware from getting onto your computer.
• Hacking and interception technologies in networks are constantly evolving, but solutions for protection against them are lagging behind. That is why it is necessary to organize complex protection of confidential data in any corporate network to get the maximum effect from it.

When choosing a particular type of firewall, you need to rely specifically on your requirements and the types of equipment used.