How does a firewall work in protecting your computer systems?
How does a Firewall Work?
Firewalls look for malicious code or attack vectors that have already been identified as known dangers in packets. The firewall prohibits data packets from entering the network or reaching your computer if they are classified as a security risk.
A firewall also provides security against Denial of Service attacks (DOS), which are an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. When a DOS attack is launched against a network, the perpetrator overwhelms the network’s capacity using multiple communications requests. The requests are sent with the intent of overloading the network so it cannot communicate effectively.
Categories of Firewall
Firewalls can be categorized in various ways. For instance, there are host-based firewalls and network-based firewalls.
A network-based firewall is located on a computer in a network, while a host-based firewall is installed on one or more individual computers.
Host-based firewalls are software applications that protect an individual computer or device from intrusion. The firewall is located on the computer or device, rather than the network.
A stateful packet inspection firewall uses stateful inspection to track the state of each session. This means that connections are verified by ensuring that they are valid and that packets are not out of order. A stateful firewall can identify abnormal behavior of a connection, which may indicate an attack.
Why is Firewall Needed?
Firewalls are necessary because they protect the systems on your network from being hacked. Hackers have many ways to get into systems, but firewalls prevent them from doing so. A hacker could conceivably follow someone into an internet cafe with WiFi capabilities, access their unprotected PC or laptop wirelessly, and then hack into the other systems on the network. Another example would be a hacker following someone into an internet cafe with WiFi capabilities, accessing their unprotected PC or laptop wirelessly, and then hacking into the other systems on the network.
Besides, firewalls are also necessary because they protect your systems from other types of attacks, such as denial of service attacks. Denial of service attacks is designed to make it impossible for people to use a computer system by flooding it with useless traffic. Such attacks are usually launched from multiple locations at the same time. Firewalls can protect against these types of attacks by blocking them before they can do any damage.
How to Prevent Attacks?
There are many steps that you can take to protect your computer system from intrusion.
Some of these steps are as follows:
Always have the latest operating system installed on your computer.
The most updated operating system is less likely to have known vulnerabilities. This means that hackers are less likely to be able to exploit vulnerabilities in your OS. Antivirus software is also updated regularly, which makes it more effective at detecting and stopping malware before it can do any harm.
Anonymous Web Surfing
When you browse the web anonymously, you can maintain your privacy. If you are using a public computer, make sure that the browser is cleared of your history and cookies before you log off. This will prevent anyone from accessing your information if they get access to the computer while you are away.
Secure Your Network
If you have a wireless network at home or in your office, it should be password protected so that only authorized users can access the network.
