What is a Firewall?
A firewall is a network security tool that creates a barrier between your computer and the Internet. It filters incoming and outgoing data to prevent hackers from taking control of your devices and steal your personal information. Firewalls also help protect businesses from cyber attacks and improve productivity.
Firewalls are a fundamental part of modern cybersecurity. They are a key element of a secure infrastructure, and they are one of the most effective ways to prevent cyberattacks and protect sensitive information. As a result, firewalls are widely used by organizations and individuals to keep their networks safe from cybercriminals.
Firewall is an important component of a secure network. It is a network security tool that creates an invisible boundary between the WAN and LAN. It filters incoming and outgoing data by checking the packets against a set of pre-configured rules to identify malicious traffic or packets. Then, it either allows or blocks that traffic depending on the rule set.
The most basic firewalls are packet filtering firewalls, which inspect network traffic at a very low level of the TCP/IP protocol stack. They use a rule set to determine whether to allow or block traffic, such as based on the source and destination IP addresses, the application protocols used, and the ports the packets are using.
Firewalls that use stateful multi-layer inspection go a step beyond packet-filtering firewalls by keeping track of established connections and filtering based on state, port, and protocol along with administrator-defined rules and context. They are considered more sophisticated and effective than standard firewalls.