As the world of information technology became more and more vulnerable to malicious attacks, the demand to deliver a well-built network of security became a need. A firewall is one of the greatest inventions of cybersecurity services that are used for protection from all external threats. It monitors the incoming and outgoing traffic, and upon coming in contact with any malicious data, it blocks and permits its entrance.
The firewall was built to serve as a barrier between incoming traffic from external sources such as the internet. These outside sources could become a path for hackers and spammers to enter your system and subvert it, steal your information, or engage you out and ask for ransom. Thus, just like ransomware recovery and ransomware removal are essential, it is also crucial to know all about firewalls.
History
When the internet was new in the IT field, external threats were becoming trouble. The firewall was later built in the 1980s for protection from these threats. Firewalls for Windows, Linux, or Mac exist to protect any network against hackers, cybercriminals, and other unauthorized users. A firewall can either be a standing machine or software on a host.
The first-ever firewall is known as a packet filter. It inspects the packets shared between computers. If the packet does not approve of packet filter rules, it rejects its entrance. These are the first generation firewalls.
The second generation firewall was built between 1989-1990. It does the job as the first generation with just an improvement in remembering conversations and recognizing IP addresses. This was known as the stateful filters.
Types of Firewalls
Firewalls are sectioned in-network or host-based firewalls. Network-based are the ones that deal with gateway computers of LANs, WANs, and intranets. Whereas, host-based firewalls are the ones that are positioned on the network nodes. There are many more types of firewalls categorized according to their demands. Take, for example, the following:
- Network Layer or packet filters
- Application layer
- Proxies
- Network address translation
Next-Generation Firewalls
These are third generation firewalls, also recognized as the application layer. It includes the distinctive purpose of packet filtering, however, it is one of the most improved versions of a firewall that exists today. It was founded in 2012, and after that, no other firewall is as unique as this one. Apart from packet filtering, it takes on a role in the network and port address translation, virtual private network support, and stateful inspection.
If you don’t want ransomware recovery or ransomware removal as an option, here are some renowned firewalls by famous cybersecurity services that you must keep in mind while purchasing one:
- Far Manager
- IPFire
- Sophos XG310
- Watch Guard
- Cisco ASA 5540
Conclusion
With cybercrime increasing day by day, it should be our foremost priority to save and secure ourselves and our crucial data. The least we can do to fight these malicious threats, and hackers are installing or buying firewalls that will prevent harmful external entities from entering our systems.
