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Network Firewalls What is a Firewall? A firewall is a specific set of instructions and software, that are located on a server appliance (firewall appliance) or a network gateway server. The firewall server protects the resources of a private network from unwelcome visitors from other networks on the Internet. A company with an internal network installs a firewall to prevent outsiders from accessing its own private data resources. Having a good firewall to protect your network is more important than ever. It was only a few years ago when only large businesses, universities and government facilities were the only ones to implement firewall protection. A firewall is a security measure designed to protect a computer or a computer network from unauthorized access. Because a lot of software exists on the network that is specifically designed to take advantage of known-weaknesses of operating systems and applications, it is important to limit exposure of your PCs. Many firewall appliances support NAT. NAT will allow all the machines in your network to connect to the Internet using only a single IP address (provided to you by the ISP). All the client computers on the network are assigned non-routeable internal IP addresses. All of the computers on your LAN can access the Internet at the same time, since the router/firewall manages the TCP connections. Using non-routeable IPs has many advantages; it provides security to your network and each computer does not need to purchase a unique IP from the ISP. Keeping all the computers in your network inside the protected internal network, via NAT, is a key component to network security. Hardware or Software? Software and hardware firewalls exist; although, it is generally agreed that hardware firewalls or firewall appliances are more secure than running personal firewall software on each computer on your network. The administrative duties are much lower because you only have to administer a single appliance as oppose to updating each workstation on your network. Firewall with IDS? Most good firewalls nowadays include IDS to provide another layer of protection. Intrusion detection (also known as IDS) is a defense system that is designed to detect hostile activity on a network. The IDS looks for activity, which is unusual or suspicious and logs it. Some appliance firewalls have the ability to block future connections from a suspicious computer on the Internet, essentially cutting them off for a predetermined amount of time. The administrator can review any hacking attempts and use the data collected by the IDS to determine the threat. Reducing your computers exposure while retaining flexibility is a critical factor when deciding which firewall to purchase for your network. The PowerElf II server appliance, provides a firewall, to reduce hostile threats from your network. For more information on the PowerElf II firewall appliance click the link. IDS Information "Due to a growing number of intrusions and since the Internet and local networks have become so ubiquitous, organizations increasingly implementing various systems that monitor IT security breaches. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) are those that have recently gained a considerable amount of interest. This is an introductory article to this topic. It gives an overview of several types of detectable attacks, symptoms that help in intrusion detection, describes IDS tasks, different architectures and concepts in this field." Click here for more... Firewall Information "In this article, we'll take a look at some of the factors you should consider when buying a firewall, features available on some of the most popular offerings, and how to compare the real cost of each (hint: the initial purchase price is only a starting point)." Click here for more...
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