Types of Firewalls
We hear this term a lot. First, make sure the firewall is on the computer at all times. Then, ensure to update the firewall and ensure that it's safely protecting your internet browsing history.
That's a software-related firewall specific to your computer, but different types of firewall options handle other functions. How many types of firewalls are out there? Well, there are four core types of firewalls out there, and they come in variations of each other, but it's essential to know exactly what a firewall does.
A lot of the functionality of firewalls comes from a hardware perspective that we don’t even always pay attention to. It comes built through the router or comes as a separate piece of equipment such as the Sonicwall-Sales firewalls, which are packed full of necessary features to protect you and your company from outside threats.
What is a firewall?
Think of a firewall as an inspection point at a border. It monitors all the web and data traffic that comes into your system and monitors what goes out of your system. It helps protect traffic, even when the source is not coming directly through the internet, but is still networked into the existing computer infrastructure.
The types of firewalls each do something different, but they're still all looking for the same thing, something that looks suspicious and doesn't look like regular traffic coming into the network. They can also act as a go-between a system trying to connect while another one tries to receive, thus building a secure bridge between the two systems.
What are the different types of firewalls?
Packet Filtering firewalls
This firewall is the most common and also the oldest type of firewall out there. The name represents what we all think firewalls are doing, inspecting every piece of data or packet that comes into the system. Each packet needs to have the correct security levels and possible codeword to be allowed to enter into the network.
What makes this so secure is that if it deems something threatening, the only action it takes is to remove it and drop it from the data stream automatically. It doesn't go into a virtual quarantine where it gets opened up and inspected to see if there's a false flag; it simply shuts it down.
Packet filters come in two types of firewalls. A stateless This is where each individual packet is inspected without any regard to previous similar packets. A stateful packet is a much more secure option that examines a group of packets together and each individual piece, providing a dual review process.
Next-Generation Firewalls
These are the latest in Firewall technology. They go beyond simply monitoring the traffic coming in and out or preventing unauthorised access to your system. Instead, they look inside every digital nook and cranny for malicious software that you might have accidentally installed on your network.
They will stop your system (depending on configuration) if they deem some types of software as safe or not. Next-Generation firewalls will also handle multiple functionalities like a SonicWall VPN firewall that will redirect your location through a virtual private network.
Other SonicWall firewall models will provide deep layer technology that will not only inspect if packets are dangerous but look inside to see why they’re dangerous and make a rule to block similar packets instantly, improving cybersecurity.
Proxy Firewalls
A Proxy Firewall is on the application level and will create a space for the packets to be inspected outside the regular operating domain. In this secure state, a similar inspection to a packet filtering stateless inspection is done with an in-depth review of each packet as well as the whole piece of information.
A proxy firewall protects the application that someone is attempting to access until it deems the data trying to get through safe. A more modern version known as a web application firewall works just like a proxy firewall, but especially for cloud-based applications and monitoring website traffic, such as someone visiting your eCommerce business, versus trying to access your internal network.
NAT Firewalls
These types of firewalls act as a masking agent for those trying to access a network. NAT stands for Network Application Translation, and what it does is give external users trying to access or find the system a public unified IP address.
They also protect the privacy of individual IP addresses that someone could use to access the entire network. Keep in mind these types of firewalls and Proxy firewalls could potentially slow down the system with regular traffic as well because it's essentially building a secure way station to inspect incoming and outgoing information.
What type of firewall is right for me?
It really comes down to what is vital in your business. Again, simple antivirus software will not stop network intrusion and won't block out incoming traffic to the office network you're using every day.
You're better off, especially with minimal IT support, to go with cloud-based and easy-to-set up next-generation firewalls such as what SonicWall firewalls provide. This way, you can have enterprise-level security without being concerned if you did all the configurations correctly.
It isn't as simple as plug-and-play, and your business is safe. There is still the human factor to consider. You will need to get a good understanding of access controls to maximise your cybersecurity efforts.
Read next article: Benefits of a Cloud Computing Security Solution
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