What is a Firewall?
A firewall acts as a protective barrier between your computer and the internet, monitoring all incoming and/or outgoing traffic and allowing only the network traffic you permit. Firewalls come in the form of software, which nestles itself between your operating system and your network card. They also come in the form of hardware; for many home and small office users, it is a simple router device that sits between your computer’s network jack and the wall connection. You can customize the level of protection the firewall gives you, setting it to filter information flow from specific domain names, addresses or types of network traffic.
A firewall is a device that serves as a barrier between networks providing access control, traffic filtering, and other security features. Firewalls are commonly deployed between trusted and untrusted networks, for example between the Internet (untrusted) and an organization’s trusted private network. They can also be used internally to segment an organization’s network infrastructure, for example; deploying a firewall between the corporate financial information and the rest of the company network. Firewalls are additional security mechanisms that should be included in all networks, both wired and wireless, in addition to being implemented on client devices as software applications. With the increased risks that are associated with wireless networks, it is important to include firewalls and other security mechanisms during the design phase.
A firewall is an important first line of defense for computer security. A firewall is software or hardware that acts as a barrier between your PC and the Internet. It prevents unauthorized access to your PC and hides your Internet-connected PC from view. All information leaving or entering your PC must pass through the firewall. It ultimately helps keep hackers away from your personal and confidential data.
A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria. Return to top.
A firewall (or Internet firewall) helps make your computer invisible to online attackers and some malicious software such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. A firewall can also help prevent software on your computer from accessing the Internet to accept updates and modification without your permission. Firewalls come in both software and hardware form, but hardware firewalls are intended for use in addition to a software firewall. It is important to have both a firewall and antivirus software turned on before you connect to the Internet.
