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Firewalls are an essential tool for defending business networks against cyberattacks. Designed to monitor data at different network levels, firewalls are able to read the data in packets and determine if it is malicious or safe based on several aspects, such as source, destination, media, and more. Firewalls are designed to block traffic from suspicious sources that could otherwise be used in a cyberattack, which is why they are so important for businesses and home users alike.

While most off-the-shelf hardware and software based firewall products come with preconfigured rulesets that can save time when setting up your new firewall, customizing these settings is an excellent way to increase security and prevent attacks. However, it is important to remember that firewall rules should be updated as your business changes or when new threats emerge.

A fundamental best practice is to implement a principle called least privilege, which functionally means that only traffic that serves a critical, necessary business function should be allowed into the corporate network. This requires that firewall rule details such as IP addresses, device types, and port numbers are carefully crafted to minimize risk and maximize performance. AI-powered NGFWs can also help you achieve this goal by automatically reallocating firewall resources to critical applications during unexpected peak traffic conditions and then reassigning them back to the original groups once conditions return to normal, further optimizing performance.

Comodo’s free firewall software features a patent-pending “Clean PC Mode” that prevents malware programs from installing on a computer unless they are on an extensive list of approved applications provided by the company. In this way, Comodo’s firewall security helps to keep the computers within a business network secure from unwanted malware.