Firewalls are crucial to boosting cybersecurity posture, optimizing staff performance, and safeguarding data from online dangers like DDoS attacks, malware, and data breaches. Investing in a managed firewall solution will help your business stay ahead of the curve and protect your valuable data.
A firewall is a hardware or software that helps protect your network and devices. Here are a few reasons you should invest in one:
Protects Your Data
What does a firewall do? Firewalls are a crucial component of your cybersecurity strategy. They are designed to block viruses and hackers from stealing your data and help stop phishing attacks and spam.
Firewalls monitor your data packets based on specific rules and prevent them from entering or leaving your network, devices, or personal computers. They constantly ensure a comprehensive security net protects your information and systems.
Depending on your firewall type, it may be hardware or software. Most computers come with a pre-installed firewall as part of an antivirus system. These firewalls are generally easy to use and offer essential protection. However, more than they are needed to defend against various cyberattacks.
When investing in a hardware firewall, you invest in your business’s long-term security. The cost of a firewall is a much smaller investment than the cost of data theft or a virus attack that could take down your entire business.
Additionally, firewalls have features that increase productivity by blocking sites that can be distracting or non-productive. They also have options to filter incoming emails and prevent shady websites from reaching user inboxes. While a firewall is not a foolproof defense against all types of attacks, it’s an important step to protect your data and the privacy of your employees.
Stops Viruses from Spreading
Firewalls protect devices and networks from cyber-attacks by blocking unauthorized access, stopping viruses from spreading, and alerting users to potential security breaches. They work by inspecting the data packets that come into and out of your device and comparing them against a list of threat signatures. If a packet matches the profile of a known threat, it is discarded and blocked from entering the device or network.
This can prevent malware like Trojans from infecting your system with monitoring or keylogging programs, causing your device to run slowly or even crash altogether. It can also stop worms from infecting multiple areas of your computer and spreading to other machines in your local area network (WAN).
A firewall does not stop every type of virus or worm. However, it can protect your devices against the most common ones. It can also block distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that would otherwise flood your bandwidth and take down web servers or online services.
Firewalls are a necessary piece of your cybersecurity system. They guard all entry points into your device and fend off any computer viruses that try to enter, thereby protecting you from online thieves and illegal elements constantly trying to use your system for unethical practices.
Stops Unapproved Access
You need a firewall to keep your network secure and prevent unauthorized users from accessing information. Both hardware and software-based firewalls analyze incoming and outgoing data and determine if it is safe to pass through to its intended destination. They also block unauthorized websites, stopping employees from browsing inappropriate sites or those containing harmful downloads while working on the company system.
Both hardware and software-based firewalls can also monitor specific ports on the network and filter the data that enters those ports. For example, your business might use a particular port to handle VoIP phone traffic. The firewall will have a rule that allows this type of traffic through while blocking other types. This keeps your network from being exposed to hackers using that port to infiltrate the system and steal sensitive data.
In addition, a firewall can protect remote workers with virtual private network (VPN) functionality. This could be essential if your business works with many remote workers. By connecting your firewall to a VPN endpoint server, you can allow employees who work from home to connect to the firewall remotely by “dialing in” through the internet. This will keep their data secure and protected while working from home and all of your other network security systems intact.
Prevents Malware Attacks
A firewall prevents malware attacks by inspecting the data packets that travel to and from your network devices. If the information in the data packet matches the profile of a known threat, the firewall will discard the package. This protects your computers and other network devices from Trojans, worms, and viruses.
The most common type of firewall is software-based and comes installed on your computer or mobile device. It works by monitoring the data packets sent to and from your computer and comparing them against a database of threats. If it finds a match, the program will flag the activity and prevent your device from accessing a harmful website or downloading a malicious file.
Firewalls can protect your system from cyber attacks such as phishing emails, social engineering, macros, and remote logins. They can even block users from visiting unsafe websites and downloading malicious applications such as backdoors, worms, and viruses.
However, it is essential to note that firewalls are only one of the cogs in your cyber security strategy and can’t stand on their own. A single breach or vulnerability in another component could be all it takes to expose your system to serious harm. This is why monitoring your firewall logs and updating its configuration with the latest security patches is vital.
