Did Someone Say Firewall?

Author: Joshua Barbee

In modern home or office IT environments, making sure your data is secure and protected from the outside world is extremely important. There are various devices, tools, methods, and practices that can be used to keep your network safe from outside attackers. One of the most critical pieces of technology a company or individual can use to guard their network is a security device called a Firewall.

Fire what?! What the heck is a firewall?

Firewalls are a network security device that act as a gatekeeper, or your first line of defense, helping to shield you from the bad stuff on the internet. Think of your computer network as a castle and a firewall as the protective wall that surrounds it to keep out attackers, all while still allowing traffic through it. A firewall controls what data is permitted using gates that are opened or closed to accept or block incoming data. In IT, this kind of gate is known as a port.

How do they work?

Luckily, a good portion of commercial and consumer firewall products already come pre-configured to block bad types of traffic that had been previously identified by various tech companies. Even though they can be used right off the shelf, it is always best practice to configure your firewall according to your IT infrastructure. One way of reducing the risk of bad guys invading your castle or network is to close as many ports as possible while opening only the ones you need.

Unlike a typical castle that you see in TV shows with a single point of entry, firewalls have thousands of ports with each one for a specific type of data. These ports are all separate and are used to provide dedicated connections for web traffic, email file servers, Voice over IP (VoIP), and even ports used primarily by popular online games such as Minecraft and Counter Strike. What is neat about firewall ports is that each one can be opened or closed per your command, based on the firewall rules you dictate.

Types of Firewalls

Up until this point, the main type of firewall we have been talking about is network firewall which is a physical hardware appliance that you hook into your network. These types of firewalls are typically what guard the perimeter, or the castle walls if you will.

Another type of firewall is the software-based one that can come pre-installed in an operating system (OS) like Windows 10 or a third-party application that you can install yourself. These are often called host-based firewalls (sometimes called a personal firewall) because they exist on the host (your computer). Like the castle analogy, this type of firewall would be the castle keep or any other building with locking doors behind the outer walls. They add an extra layer of protection for the data that is behind them.

Personal firewalls often come already installed on your computer, whether it be a Windows 10 computer or a Mac. Due to the out-of-the-box nature of modern computing, there is usually minimal need to do any unique setup or even interact with your personal firewall. They are typically turned on by default and include an assortment of default rules in place to protect your computer. Another convenience about personal firewalls is that when you install a new program or join a public Wi-Fi hotspot, etc., it can automatically create rules for those instances so it takes the guesswork out of having to manually configure it each time.

Another device in your home that protects you is your wireless router; it too includes a firewall to further protect you and your network. Like the personal firewalls on your computer, they also come pre-configured. They include default rules that block out bad traffic and let the good traffic in. This combined with your personal firewall on your computer provide an ample amount of protection when you are doing things online like shopping or browsing the internet. Just make sure the firewall function is turned on.

For more information on checking the firewalls in your home, see our blog about Keeping Your Wi-Fi Secure.