Looking for the right firewall settings to protect your business from potential threats?
Understanding how a firewall works will help you determine the best solution. This article explains the types of firewalls so you can train them to choose.
What is a firewall?
A firewall is a security device that monitors network traffic. It protects your internal network by filtering incoming and outgoing traffic according to the specified rule sets. Installing a firewall is the simplest way to add a layer of security between your system and a malicious attack.
How do firewalls work?
Firewalls are placed at the hardware or software level of the system to protect against malicious traffic. Depending on your setup, you can protect a single computer or an entire computer network. The device examines inbound and outbound traffic according to predefined rules.
Communication over the Internet is carried out by requesting and sending data from the sender to the receiver. Because the data cannot be sent as a whole, it is initially divided into manageable data packets that make up the transmitted entity. The firewall's role is to examine data packets to and from the host.
What does the firewall control? Each data packet consists of a header (control information) and a payload (actual data). The header provides information about the sender and the recipient. Packets must pass through a firewall to enter the internal network through a defined port. This transfer depends on the information you transmit and how well it corresponds to pre-defined rules.
For example, your firewall might have rules to exclude traffic from specified IP addresses. When the firewall receives a data packet with this IP address in its header, it denies access. Similarly, a firewall can deny access to anyone except defined trusted sources. There are several ways to configure this security device. The degree to which your system is currently protected depends on the type of firewall.
Firewall type
They all serve to prevent unauthorized access, but how they work and the overall nature of a firewall can vary greatly. There are three types of firewalls depending on the nature: software firewalls, hardware firewalls, or both. The other types of firewalls mentioned in this list are firewall technologies that can be installed by software or hardware.
Software firewall
A software firewall is installed on the host device. Therefore, this type of firewall is also called a host firewall. Since you are connected to a specific device, you have to use resources to work with it. Therefore, it is inevitable to use some of the RAM and CPU of the system.
If you have more than one device, you must install the software on each device. It must be compatible with the host computer, so separate configurations are required for each. So, its main drawback is the time and knowledge required to manage and manage each device's firewall.
On the other hand, the advantage of a software firewall is that it can separate programs while filtering inbound and outbound traffic. Thus, you can deny access to one program and allow access to another.
Hardware firewall
As the name suggests, a hardware firewall is a security device that represents discrete hardware placed between an internal and external network (Internet). This type is also known as device firewall.
Unlike software firewalls, hardware firewalls have resources and do not use CPU or RAM on the host device. It is a physical device that acts as a gateway for traffic to and from your internal network.
It is used in medium and large organizations that have more than one computer operating in the same network. In these cases, using a hardware firewall is more practical than installing separate software on each device. Configuring and managing a hardware firewall requires knowledge and skill, so make sure you have an experienced team to take on this responsibility.
Packet filtering firewall
As for the types of firewalls based on how they work, the most basic type is the packet filtering firewall. It acts as an inline security checkpoint attached to a router or switch. As the name suggests, it monitors network traffic by filtering incoming packets based on the information passed.
As explained above, each data packet consists of a header and the data it transmits. This type of firewall decides whether to allow access to a packet based on the header information. It does this by examining the protocol, source IP address, destination IP, source port, and destination port. Packets are forwarded or dropped (rules that define unsolicited traffic) depending on how the number matches the access control list.
Packet filtering firewall
All necessary data pack
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