TheCircuitSide.com

A constant in the Web Security arsenal is the Firewall program. As Internet access speed improves, people started to spend more time online. The more time you spend online equals to greater risks of getting hacked, and acquiring a computer Virus and a lot more. Hackers are also getting better as they improve as Security software improves.

Web security is the practice of protecting a system from attacks that have malicious purposes. One important program for web security is the Firewall.

To know how a Firewall program works. It is important to understand how communication is handled on the Internet. Internet communication is achieved with the exchange of data or “packets”. A computer connection is composed of packets that go between the different machines. Packets need to have a specific destination, because data packets are often divided and take different routes to the receiver. IP addresses are used to make sure that a data packet arrives at the right destination.

Firewalls are computer software designed to act as a barrier between a private network and a public one. They work by inspecting the packets that come in to the computer system. A Firewall programs has the power to choose to accept or reject an information packet.

Firewall programs only allow access of data from a source that has been pre-determined as safe. This seems ok, but what if you are expecting a reply from a source that is outside the pre-determined area? This is not a problem for the Firewall, it will be able to determine if the data coming in is initiating a new connection or is responding to one established by the Firewall’s host computer.

If a computer is infected with a Spyware that is programmed to send information to another source without the owner’s knowledge the Firewall can also put a stop to this. It filters the data being sent by checking the application that is sending the data. If the application is suspicious in any way, Firewall will stop it from transmitting outside of the network.

If a Firewall is not properly configured or set up right, it can weaken and may allow unwarranted access. Most Firewall programs are not easy to configure. You have to have knowledge of it before you can get full protection from it. At present companies are trying hard in finding ways to make their Firewall software easy to use.

As a rule: Firewall programs should be used with other Web Security Applications. This way, one program can make up for what the other lacks. Some companies regularly check their Web Security efficiency by letting “Ethical Hackers” have a simulated breach on their system. This way they are able to provide advance protection for possible future strategies that a criminal hacker might figure out. GP