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Firewall is a cybersecurity solution that filters network traffic, allowing or blocking data packets to pass through based on pre-established security rules. Often positioned as a barrier between the public internet and your devices or networks, firewalls help protect against several cyberattacks including hacking, ransomware, viruses, worms, spyware, adware, and Trojan horses.

Firewalls can be either hardware or software, and they can protect a single device or an entire network. The router that brings the internet into your home or office probably contains a hardware firewall, and most operating systems have a software version of a firewall built in. Firewalls can also be part of a larger network security solution like a UTM, which includes other functions such as antivirus protection and intrusion detection.

While firewalls are generally effective at preventing malware threats from entering your system, they do not provide adequate protection against some types of malware that may already be on your system. This type of malware typically infiltrates your computer through an email attachment or link, and once inside, it can then spread to other computers on your network.

There are multiple types of firewalls, but the most common ones include packet filtering and stateful inspection. Packet filtering analyzes data at the OSI protocol layer and compares it against a set of established rules to identify unwanted traffic. Stateful inspection examines incoming data packets at the OSI network and transport layers to detect malicious activity, and it can be a step above packet filtering since it uses context to make decisions.