Firewalls: Don’t Get Burned
First, the bad news: if your computer has access to the internet, bad guys on the internet could have access to your computer to carry out a cyber attack. Now, the good news: a properly configured, capable firewall will provide an important layer of protection. What is a firewall? A firewall is a security component that blocks unauthorized message traffic from entering and/or leaving a network. Network messages are sent in packets, and firewalls inspect those packets against a set of rules to identify and block threats. Those rules can be based on message source, destination, and/or content. For example, you could configure rules that block messages from specific countries or websites. Firewalls can be implemented as physical network hardware devices, software that runs on network routers, or as software that runs in your computer. What is the best firewall for you? Most of our customers’ networks serve homes or small businesses. For those applications, separate physi