Introduction to Firewalls
Firewalls provide critical protection to keep your computer safe from unauthorized access. This protection can be a combination of hardware and software that prevents information from leaving your network or preventing access to your network. Firewalls are designed to establish a secure barrier between a system and the external environment.
Inventors
It is hard to say who actually “invented” the firewall. Nir Zuk claims he developed the technology. David Pensak claims to have built the first commercially successful firewall. Then there is Marcus Ranum and David Presotto who have also been tied to being the inventors of the firewall. But in 1994 William Cheswick and Steven Bellovin wrote the book on firewall, but say they did not invent it, they built a circuit-level gateway and packet filtering technology. Regardless of who gets the title creator, there were many security experts that contributed to firewall technology. Firewalls beginning can be traced to the 80’s, but the first commercial firewall was shipped in 1992 .
What is a firewall?
A firewall is a software utility or hardware device that acts as a barrier to limit outside network access to a computer or local network by blocking or restricting network ports. Firewalls are used to prevent hackers from gaining access to your computer. If a hacker gains access to your computer, attackers can deploy software attacks that overwhelm the processing capabilities or gain access to protected systems by hidden means. Malware is the largest threat against a system. Malware is computer software specifically designed to perform malicious or unwanted actions. Malware is the largest threat against a system. Malware attacks include: viruses, worms, Trojan horses, DOS attacks, bots, spyware, and adware. To prevent these attackers from gaining access to your system, it is imperative that a firewall be activated or installed.
Processing Modes
Packet filters are the most...