What is a Firewall and Do I Need One?

Cybercrime continues to be one of the biggest threats to business. Therefore, to cut down such risks, a hardware or software firewall is “a must-have to cut down such risks.”

Firewalls have been one of the most important solutions for many companies. It protects your data from leaks and even helps to prevent unwanted breaches. Many small businesses also consider a firewall an ideal Network Security Solution because it’s extremely reliable and convenient.

This blog will break down all the essential facts and explain why a firewall is a necessary choice for your business.

What Does a Firewall Do?

A firewall is an advanced system used to protect and allow only authorized access access to your network.

A firewall also acts as a bridge between your internal environment and the internet at large. That’s not all; It even controls the entire network traffic entering and exiting your device.

If you are without a firewall, your essential files and documents run a risk of being compromised, and it can wreak havoc on your business.

Do I Need a Firewall for My Small Business? A Detailed Explanation

The answer is yes! If you have devices that connect to the Internet every day, you should know that they simply do more than just checking the latest news online. These devices help you to check your email, social media, Google searches, etc. Therefore, it’s extremely easy to land on a page that isn’t protected.

You may even end up landing on a corrupted or malware infected site, and by the time you exit from there, you’ve already brought viruses to your device.

Any data sent between the server and your device has the potential to be picked up by the corrupted software and delivered to someone else.

That’s a significant risk to your business, and all it takes is one site with a virus to cause a breach. If you don’t already partner with an IT company or have internal staff to protect your assets, a firewall at a bare minimum could be a life saver for your growing business.

How Can Different Firewalls Protect Your Data?

It’s true; there are various kinds of firewalls serving different security purposes. However, the ultimate target is to keep your network safe and secure from any breaches.

For instance, if you don’t have a firewall, viruses and malware have the potential to infect your critical data.

Moreover, hackers can also take over your data and device, disrupting your business and causing massive harm to your brand.

Here are a few different types of firewalls and what they do:

1. Packet layer

The packet layer observes all traffic within the transport layer. Here, applications communicate with one another via specific TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) protocols.

Benefit: At this layer, the firewall looks at the entire data packets for any suspicious code that may threaten the device or network. Therefore, if there are issues, your firewall will get rid of them immediately.

2. Application Layer

Before letting any data through, an application layer firewall ensures that only valid data is at the application level. Benefit: This is done with individual policies for each application. Moreover, these policies let or block any communications sent to or from the application.

3. Circuit Level

Here firewall sits between the application and transport layer. So, in this TCP stack, a “handshake” is required between two entities before any piece of information is sent or transferred from one another. Benefit: The firewall inspects the information that passes through during this communication handshake. The information in the packets will alert a hardware or software firewall in case of any corrupted or malware data. The firewall can then get rid of it before it can infect another system or network.

4. Software Firewalls

Most personal computers have the most common type of software firewall. It works by looking at your device’s data packets sent and received. Benefit: A list of threat signatures is used to compare the information in the data packets. If a data packet looks like a threat, it’s immediately discarded.

5. Proxy Server

It looks at everything that goes into or out of a network. Moreover, a proxy server acts as a system between the internet and your internal network or device. Benefit: It has a unique IP address to which you can easily connect your computer. So, as data enters or leaves the proxy server, any malware is detected and discarded.

Possible Problems With Firewalls

Indeed a firewall is a very helpful tool in keeping you protected online. However, it still comes with some drawbacks. Here in this section, we’ll let you know some of the significant disadvantages of firewalls.

Issues With Activated Controls

One of the most prevalent firewall concerns is improperly activated controls. For instance, your defense system probably has anti-spoofing features to keep the spam, malware, and other deceptive communications out. So if you don’t enable this specific control, a DDoS assault has the ability to occur. Remember that threats are actively and constantly attempting to access your network. Therefore, you must safeguard your business at all times.

Lax Firewall Access

Users may be accessing the firewall over an unencrypted Telnet or RDP connections which can allow direct access to your internal network. Even worse, viruses can enter you’re your systems over the internet, potentially corrupting your important documents and files.

Documentation Gap

Your company may be in trouble without written application documentation and rule descriptions, especially if you don’t have an expert keeping your systems safe. This can very easily result in a lack of understanding, accountability, and extended downtime if there is ever an issue.

Wrapping it Up!

With technology threats on the rise, a firewall is a very effective solution to protect your data and documents from unwanted breaches and attacks. However, it’s always recommended that you use the latest version to ensure the latest and greatest in terms of protection.

If you’d like to learn more about firewalls or need some help implementing a firewall solution, fill out our contact form, and a Sirius representative will contact you to discuss your needs. Our team actively monitors and manages your network to keep you protected.