Firewalls It 242

Firewalls

IT 242

5/29/14

Univ. of Phoenix

Firewalls

A firewall is a hardware or software which functions in a network environment to prevent some communications forbidden by the security policy. Our reading shows us three different kinds of firewalls. After reviewing it there are four types of firewalls. 1) Network level 2) Circuit level gateway 3) Application level 4) Stateful Multilayer gateways.

Network level firewalls inspect packet headers and filter out based on their destination and source. They also consider IP addresses, ports used and services requested. Circuit level gateway firewalls determine if sessions are legitimate by observing the handshake between packets. It can also hide the network from hackers and restrict the session rules between known computers. Application level gateways are proxies that work like the circuit gateways, but they work on specific applications. They protect the network from attacks, malicious software and viruses. This gateway can block websites by content and not the IP address. The Stateful multilayer gateway (SML), is the best firewall type. They filter packets at the network layer, they determine packet legitimacy and they evaluate packet contents at the application layer. They provide a direct connection between the host and the client, which allows for transparency at the user level. ("Firewalls", N.D.)

Having a couple different types of firewalls gives you much needed protection. Just one of the viruses or worms can destroy a network computer system.

References

Univ. of Phoenix. (N.D.). Business Data Communications... Retrieved from Univ. of Phoenix, IT242 website.

Firewalls. (N.D.). Retrieved from http://pcresults.com/ContactUs/Blog/tabid/120/EntryId/69/The-Four-Main-Types-of-Firewalls-for-Business.aspx