There is a certain part in car that is found in between the passenger compartment and the engine. A firewall is the name of this part. The passengers are protected by the firewall from any clash or explosion that the car might suffer from. Computer networks also have a firewall.
The purpose of the firewall is to protect your network from the networks whose source cannot be trusted. You are in between a public network and a company’s production network. The public network has little or no control over what, where, and how things happen.
On the other hand the production network of a company has to be protected from users who have ulterior motives such as damaging the flow of information or siphoning important data for the company.
Firewall criticism
Some critics of firewall argue that it is of null implication to protect the company’s network while allowing the intranet to be accessed by the internet. The explanation to this is not hard. Companies have to survive and thrive in spite of the technological challenges that are around them.
Many companies advertise their products and services through the internet. It is common knowledge that the internet has grown in a tremendous rate as does shopping malls and market places. More people are accessing each day.
The more the traffic, the more companies ought to be more vigilant to ensure that the products that they sell are secure and of high integrity. It is nowadays a necessity to protect your transactions, data, and transmissions from any third party interruptions. The internet is awash with people and companies who are out to delude you and earn a dime from your inexperience.
What do firewalls mean?
The world offers a variety of configurations and models of firewalls, but they all exist to do the same work. You are in need of allowing users who hail from a network that is protected, such as your company network, to gain access to a public network, the internet in this case, and to avail the products and services of the company to the public network. The main challenge that arises from connecting your company to the internet without proper security measures is that of exposure to attacks from the servers that are online.
It is not only your corporate network that is vulnerable to unauthorized access, but every other server in the network of your company. Therefore, think about firewalls whenever you are in the process of securing the network of your company. You need to be very clear about the information that you will avail to the internet. Ensure that you server is safe by obstructing any unauthorized log in, transfer of files, and execution of commands remotely.
What will firewall do?
A firewall will separate your secure network from the insecure one: the internet in this case. You cannot access the internet from an intranet when you have a firewall in place neither can you access intranet from the internet. Before you install a firewall ensure that you are in the know of the layers of your corporate network.
