Types of firewall and possible attacks- Hostnetindia

One of the major challenges that companies face when trying to secure their sensitive data is finding the right tools for the job. Even for a common tool such as a firewall (sometimes called a network firewall), many businesses might not have a clear idea of how to find the right firewall (or firewalls) for their needs, how to configure those firewalls, or why such firewalls might be necessary.

What is a Firewall?

A firewall is a type of cybersecurity tool that is used to filter traffic on a network. Firewalls can be used to separate network nodes from external traffic sources, internal traffic sources, or even specific applications. Firewalls can be software, hardware, or cloud-based, with each type of firewall having its own unique pros and cons.

The primary goal of a firewall is to block malicious traffic requests and data packets while allowing legitimate traffic through.

How Does a Firewall Work?

The first step in finding the right firewalls to protect your company’s data is to know what kinds of firewalls there are and how they work. Firewall architectures can be divided into several different categories based on their general structure and method of operation:

• Packet-filtering firewalls
• Stateful inspection firewalls
• Circuit-level gateways
• Application-level gateways (a.k.a. proxy firewalls)
• Next-gen firewalls
• Software firewalls
• Hardware firewalls
• Cloud firewalls

Which Firewall Architecture is Right for Your Company?

So, which firewall architecture is the right one for your business?

• The simple packet filtering or circuit-level gateway, which provides basic protection that has minimal performance impact?
• The stateful inspection architecture that combines the capabilities of both of the previous two options, but has a larger performance impact? Or
• A proxy or next-gen firewall that offers far more robust protection in exchange for additional expenses and an even higher performance impact?

The real question is “why would you only use one?”

No one protection layer, no matter how robust, will ever be enough to protect your business. To provide better protection, your networks should have multiple layers of firewalls, both at the perimeter and separating different assets on your network. For example, you could have a hardware or cloud firewall at the perimeter of your network, then individual software firewalls on each of your network assets.

Having additional firewalls helps to make your network tougher to crack by creating additional defense-in-depth that isolates different assets—making it so attackers have to perform extra work to reach all of your most sensitive information.

The particular firewalls that you will want to use will depend on the capabilities of your network, relevant compliance requirements for your industry, and the resources you have in place to manage these firewalls.

Need help finding the ideal firewall architecture for your business’ needs? Consider starting with a security policy audit and assessment first. This can help you identify all of the assets on your network that need protecting so you can better optimize your firewall implementation.

Or, contact Computing Cybersecurity to get more assistance with perfecting your company’s cybersecurity strategy.

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