What Are the Benefits of a Firewall?
As the corporate world becomes increasingly digital, forward-thinking firms must focus on protecting their systems from external attacks. Firewalls have been one of the methods used to do this since the early 1980s. They are network security devices located between a trusted network and an untrusted network to monitor and regulate network traffic based on established security rules.
However, as time passes, the tactics we use to defend our businesses should evolve as well. Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) are the most recent advancement in digital security, combining the best aspects of classic technology with today’s new technologies to provide maximum digital protection.
The benefits of a firewall are outlined below:
1. Controls Traffic
The ability to monitor network traffic is the foundation of all firewall security benefits. Threats to your operations can be introduced by data flowing in and out of your systems. Firewalls secure your systems by monitoring and analyzing network traffic and applying pre-set rules and filters. You can manage your degrees of security based on what you observe flowing in and out of your firewall if you have a well-trained IT team. The ability of monitoring network traffic will help to control the traffic. By controlling network traffic, a firewall can help safeguard your computer and data. It does this by filtering out unsolicited and undesirable network traffic. A firewall verifies access by scanning incoming communication for dangerous elements such as hackers and viruses that might infect your machine.
2. Access Control
The firewall is a hardware and software device that controls which connections are permitted to pass between communication partners. You can enable a predetermined set of services to enter across separate network zones while keeping other services out by deploying a firewall system, for example, between your intranet and the Internet. You can, for example, enable users on your company’s intranet to use internet services like mail or HTTP, but not others like telnet.
3. Protects From Phishing Attack
Business-grade firewalls may detect whether a connection you’ve visited is related to a social engineering attack like phishing. If this is the case, the firewall will instantly stop all outgoing data and provide a warning.
Furthermore, firewalls include features like email filtering, which scans incoming emails for red flags such as phishing and prevents dodgy communications from reaching the user’s mailbox.
4. Prevents Hacking
Firewalls have become increasingly crucial as the number of data theft and system hijacking by criminals has increased, since they may prevent hackers from gaining unauthorized access to your data, emails, systems, and other information. A firewall can deter hackers from picking simpler targets or altogether stop them.
5. Stops Spyware
Stopping malware from obtaining access and infiltrating your networks is a much-needed advantage in today’s data-driven society. The number of entry points thieves can exploit to get access to your systems grows as your systems become more complicated and strong. Spyware and malware—programs designed to penetrate your networks, manage your devices, and steal your data—are some of the most common ways unwelcome persons obtain access. Firewalls are a crucial line of defense against malicious software.
6. Better Privacy
One of the primary advantages of a firewall is that it promotes privacy. You can create a private environment that consumers can trust by aggressively preserving the security of your data and that of your customers’ data. Nobody wants their information stolen, especially if precautions can be done to avoid it.
Furthermore, an improved data protection system may be a competitive advantage and a selling point for consumers and clients. The bigger the advantages, the more sensitive the data your organization handles.
What Is The Best Firewall?
Hardware and software firewalls are two types of firewalls. While both have benefits and drawbacks, determining whether or not to use a firewall is more essential than deciding which type to employ.
Hardware — These physical devices, also known as network firewalls, are placed between your computer and the internet (or other network connection). Many vendors and certain internet service providers (ISPs) provide small office/home office routers with firewall capabilities. Hardware-based firewalls are very beneficial for securing numerous PCs and monitoring network traffic that passes through them. Hardware-based firewalls have the benefit of providing an additional line of defense against assaults on desktop computers. The downside is that they are distinct devices that need the assistance of qualified specialists to configure and maintain.
Software — Even if you have an external firewall, most operating systems (OSs) offer a built-in firewall capability that you should enable for further safety. Firewall software can also be purchased individually from a local computer store, software vendor, or Internet service provider. If you’re going to download firewall software from the internet, be sure it’s from a trusted source (i.e., a well-known software vendor or service provider) and that it’s on a secure site. Software firewalls have the benefit of being able to govern the network behavior of individual apps on a system. The fact that a software firewall is usually installed on the same system as the one being protected is a big drawback. Being on the same system might cause problems.
The fact that a software firewall is usually installed on the same system as the one being protected is a big drawback. Because they are on the same system, the firewall’s ability to identify and halt harmful activity is hampered. Another downside of software firewalls is that, if you have one for each machine on your network, you will have to update and administer each firewall separately.
Zenarmor stands within these two kinds of firewalls. You can use it at any network, anytime. Cloud or On-Prem. Virtual or Bare-Metal.
Zenarmor’s lightweight and powerful, appliance-free technology allows organizations to launch instant firewalls on-demand and easily secure environments as small as home networks or scale to multi-cloud deployments.
Packet inspection core is powerful enough to protect against encrypted threats while also being so lightweight and nimble that it can even fit in very resource-constrained environments.
Zenarmor is Software-Defined. It’s appliance-free, lightweight, and nimble. This uniquely allows you to launch instantaneous micro firewalls on demand; at the Access, Edge, and Core level. Micro & mighty packet inspection is so powerful that it can even protect against advanced encrypted threats.
