WHAT IS A FIREWALL?

 A firewall is hardware or software that is used to prevent unauthorized

programs from accessing a private network/ a single computer

 Usually the main function of a firewall is to firewall examines all traffic

routed between your network and the Internet

Why Firewall Security?

 Viruses
 Operating system bugs
 Application backdoors
 SMTP session hijacking.

Hardware & Software Firewalls

 Hardware Firewalls
• Protect an entire network
• Usually more expensive, harder to configure
• Implemented on the router level
 Software Firewalls
• Protect a single computer
• Usually less expensive, easier to configure
 Firewall Rules

 Allow
 Block
 Ask

How does a software firewall work?

 Inspects each individual packet of data as it arrives at either side of the

firewall
 Inbound to or outbound from your computer
 Determines whether it should be allowed to pass through or if it should
be blocked
 Rules Determine

Conditions,
Criteria

INTERNE
T

Protected
Firewall Network

FIREWALL TECHNIQUES

 Packet filtering
• Packets (small chunks of data) are analyzed against a set of filters.

• Packets that make it through the filters are sent to the requesting
system and all others are discarded.

 Proxy service
• Information from the Internet is retrieved by the firewall and then
sent to the requesting system and vice versa.

 Stateful inspection
• Its a new method that doesn't examine the contents of each packet

• instead compares certain key parts of the packet to a database of trusted

information

 Application gateway
• Applies security mechanisms to specific applications, such as FTP and
Telnet servers.
• This is very effective, but can impose performance degradation.

What a personal firewall can do?

 Stop hackers from accessing your computer
 Protects your personal information
 Blocks pop up ads and certain cookies
 Determines which programs can access the Internet

What a personal firewall cannot do?

  Cannot prevent e-mail viruses
• Only an antivirus product with updated definitions can prevent e-mail
viruses.

 Cannot stop IP spoofing

• It can be prevented by encrypting the data packets and the source
address.

Examples for personal firewall software products

• Zone alarm
• Panda firewall
• Black ICE defender
• Tiny personal firewall

Conclusion
 Firewalls protect private networks from hostile intrusion from the
Internet.
 Hardware firewalls don’t run physically on your system, hence they
don’t affect system performance.
 Software firewalls are less expensive and easy to configure compare to
hardware firewalls.
 Firewalls allow network administrators to offer access to specific types
of Internet services to selected LAN users.