What is Firewall in Network Security? Types and Benefits

A firewall is a network security system designed to control incoming and outgoing network traffic and prevent unauthorized access to or from private networks connected to the internet, especially intranets.

A firewall typically acts as a barrier between a trusted internal network and outside connections, such as the Internet.

Network firewall security: A firewall can be software or a device

What is Firewall in Network Security? Types and Benefits of Firewall Security

What is Firewall?

A firewall is a network security device that companies or institutions put in place to ensure the protection of the security of their programs and files from penetration and theft from external parties.

The firewall security device is placed specifically between the organization's internal network and the Internet so that the undesirable entities and unwanted parties that infiltrate the organization's internal computer network are identified, and then the system administrator is informed of this.

The firewall is not only used to achieve security against external attacks, it can also be used to locate sites that employees are not allowed to access, including sites that lead to wasted time, such as games sites, news sites, and others.

 It is worth noting that many companies are still not using the firewall because of the high cost, or because they need experts or specialists to deal with it.

A firewall can be software or a device that helps identify any piracy attempts, and also shows the presence of viruses that disrupt the operation of a computer, as it is one of the necessities that should be used to protect the user's computer network, in order to prevent the spread of viruses.

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What are the 3 Types of Firewalls?

There are three basic types of firewalls that companies use to protect their data and devices to keep destructive elements out of the network, viz. Proxy Server, Packet Filters and Stateful Inspection Firewalls.

Firewall Methodologies

Network-based firewalls provide essential features used for surrounding security and to refuse or allow traffic trying to enter or leave the network based on pre-defined policies and rules.

The methodologies used to allow or block traffic may include the following:

Proxy Service: The proxy service is a firewall technique in which the firewall retrieves information from the Internet, and then sends it to the system that requested it and vice versa.

The proxy firewall acts as an intermediary between the original client and the server. There is no direct contact between the original client and the server.

Packet filtering: Packet filtering is a firewall technique in which packets (small pieces of data) are analyzed by a set of filters, then the packets that pass through the filters are sent to the system that requested it, and the rest is excluded.

Packet filtering is used to control access on the basis of the destination IP address, source IP address, destination IP address, destination port number, and source port number.

Stateful Inspection: A stateful inspection is a newer method in which the contents of each package are not examined, but certain main parts of the package are compared with a reliable information database.

The information that is transmitted from the inside of the firewall to the outside of it is adjusted to suit specific characteristics, then the information received is compared with these characteristics.

If the results of the comparison give a reasonable fit, then the information is allowed to pass through.

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What Are the Benefits of Firewall Security?

There are many companies that have hundreds of employees and a large number of computers belonging to one network, and if there is no firewall device, the information can be accessed easily by hackers and crackers, which puts the information and data of the company at risk.

Here comes the role of the firewall as one of the methods to help protect computers when connected to the Internet.

The most important benefits of firewall security may include:

↦Firewall security helps reduce the risk of keyloggers monitoring you.

↦A firewall monitors all of the traffic that enters the computer network.
↦A firewall helps protect private information and does not allow everyone to access it via the Internet.

↦A firewall prevents malware from accessing a computer or network over the Internet.

↦A firewall helps block Trojan horses.

↦A firewall prevents hackers from entering the network and provides protection against external cyber attackers by protecting your computer or network from harmful or unnecessary network traffic.

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