What Are Network Firewalls?

A network firewall is a security system that monitors and controls network traffic. It divides a network into trusted and untrusted areas. A firewall can be either NGFW (Next Generation Firewall) or a proxy. In general, a firewall controls outgoing network traffic and prevents malicious activity.

NGFWs

NGFWs are a type of network firewall that uses a combination of application awareness and network security capabilities to protect networks. The advanced capabilities of NGFWs can help secure networks from viruses, spam, non-compliance, and hacking attempts. They can also be configured to prioritize incoming traffic and manage bandwidth.

Next-generation firewalls can analyze every packet rather than block the packages arriving. This means that they offer much higher security than traditional firewalls. Furthermore, these firewalls can integrate other technologies that protect them against malicious packets that may have no previous path to the network.

Proxy firewalls

Proxy firewalls are network firewalls that inspect and filter a small set of application-specific traffic. While other types of firewalls also do deep packet inspection, they typically enforce policies based on the IP address or port the connection originates from. However, some of these firewalls can have a lot of rules, and those rules may be hard to understand.

Many proxy firewalls also provide protocol-aware logging, which makes identifying attacks easier. They also offer valuable backups of server logs.

Stateful inspection firewalls

Stateful inspection firewalls are network firewalls that analyze each packet in detail. They provide full session awareness and can handle heavy traffic loads. They also protect your network from cyberattacks and unauthorized access. This is an ideal solution for organizations that are concerned with security and compliance. These network firewalls are highly configurable and easily configured to meet your organization’s unique needs.

Stateful inspection firewalls can detect malicious traffic by analyzing each packet traveling across the network. They monitor each packet’s protocol, port number, and content, allowing or blocking access to the network. This means they can prevent most types of attacks while conserving system resources.

Packet-filtering firewalls

Unlike application-layer firewalls, which are designed to filter all traffic without examining the payload, packet-filtering firewalls can filter traffic across a broader range of protocols. For example, they can filter HTTP requests and keep track of the active sessions for HTTP requests. Both firewalls can be used on the same network but should be used in conjunction. Combining two kinds of firewalls will increase the security and flexibility of your network.

Packet-filtering firewalls protect the local network from unwanted attacks by controlling data flow. They examine each packet’s header to determine whether it meets predefined criteria. It also does not prevent all types of attacks, including those using application layers and spoofing attacks.

NAT

NAT, or Network Address Translation, allows workstations with internal IP addresses to access the Internet. These devices are usually web servers. However, some of them need to be accessible to the public. A firewall can assign a public IP address to these servers to allow public access. As a result, the firewall serves as a middleman between the outside world and the protected internal network. The firewall can also include rules about which ports can be accessed.

The main benefit of NAT is that it prevents hackers from gaining access to a private IP address. This is a vital security feature for many companies, and the advantages of NAT far outweigh the disadvantages.

VPN

VPNs are becoming increasingly common internet access, especially for public Wi-Fi users. They encrypt data and keep it secure from hackers and ISPs. In addition, a VPN can bypass any restrictions your ISP may place on your internet connection.

A VPN service will encrypt your connection, hiding your location and allowing you to access restricted websites on your network. The VPN service will help you avoid geo-restrictions and bypass restrictions imposed on websites in other countries. And because it will encrypt your data, you won’t have to worry about hackers accessing your information, which is especially important if you’re traveling abroad.