Question

Firewalls rely on a list of allowed and blocked services and locations. What would happen if a company’s firewall rules were too weak? If the firewall rules were too strict?

Answer 1

Meaning of firewall

A firewall is either a software or a hardware-based security system for networks, that is tasked with regulating the flow of incoming and outgoing network traffic. In order to decide which data packets should be allowed through and which should be prevented, the firewall carries out a proper analysis that is based upon an applied set of rules. Basically, the definition of a firewall can be stated in a variety of different terms, depending primarily upon your level of understanding of computer networks. Primarily however, a firewall creates a sort of a barrier between a network of computers that can be trusted, as well as an external network, such as the internet, which cannot be trusted. In case somebody tries to send in data packets that are infected with viruses, the firewall will automatically detect them and prevent them from entering the secure network. Primarily, most individual computers come with a firewall-based security system that can be turned on or off at your behest. Hardware such as routers are also installed with firewalls to prevent access.

Firewall Importance

Firewalls are an important part of the corporate world, mainly because they are used to protect the secrets of a company. However, despite all of the positive points of a firewall, there are a number of weaknesses as well. Here are some of the most blatant weaknesses of a firewall:

It can't fend off internal attacks

As mentioned above, a firewall is created to protect a system from any harmful threats from another network. It acts as a sort of barrier. However, it can't fend off attacks that are launched from within the system that it is supposed to protect. This is quite a common issue. Imagine if someone gains unauthorized access from within the network or no authorized use of the network, the firewall is deemed useless in such cases.

Limited prevention

Firewalls are created to prevent intrusions from traffic that only passes through them. This means that it only allows data to pass as long as it adheres to the applied set of rules. If a new virus, that has been undiscovered as yet is not mentioned in the set of rules, the firewall won't even scan it and allow it through.

It makes communication insecure

If a company allows communication from an outside network, such as the internet, the firewall has no ability to be able to scan and prevent viruses. For instance, if a company has allowed access to receive emails from the outside world, the firewall will easily allow the emails to filter through. Anybody could disguise a virus or a Trojan within the email attachments, and gain access to the network inside, or even destroy the firewall.

These are some of the most blatant weaknesses of firewalls that affect day to day usage of the network.

When firewall is to strict.

Literally, the term firewall is used to describe a partition or wall which can be used to prevent fire spread or diseases. In computing however, firewall is a part of a network which is designed to block other computers from accessing yours without any authorization while permitting your computer to access information from outside. Using firewalls is recommended especially for computers which are connected to the internet and its benefits are listed below.

A firewall is a security measure which can really come in handy when it comes to blocking security threats such as viruses and worms from accessing your computer through the exploitation of the network protocol.

Firewalls also help to note which addresses want to infiltrate your network. They log all attempts of access to your computer. They can also set an alarm in the form of sounds or pop ups when any hostile or suspicious activity is attempted. Furthermore, some firewalls can log outbound as well as monitor all data traffic and also prevent any unauthorized access.

Both private users and network administrators benefit from the use of firewalls. With a firewall, you can be able to keep away any authorized users and to stop malware activities which might try to retrieve certain kinds of data from your computers for transmission to a third party for use.

A firewall can be able to detect websites which have malicious and harmful programs which cannot only retrieve information from your computer but can also transfer malicious contents into your system. An administrator is able to set the preferences as well as customize the firewall’s system according to his requirements.

Although firewalls are great to have in our computers, they usually take up a lot of system resources which thereby slows down the computer.