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Esteemed Partners (Firewall)

Firewall & Antivirus

In computing, a firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted network and an untrusted network, such as the Internet.

How does a firewall work?

Firewalls carefully analyze incoming traffic based on pre-established rules and filter traffic coming from unsecured or suspicious sources to prevent attacks. Firewalls guard traffic at a computer’s entry point called ports, which is where information is exchanged with external devices. For example, “Source address 172.18.1.1 is allowed to reach destination 172.18.2.1 over port 22."

Think of IP addresses as houses, and port numbers as rooms within the house. Only trusted people (source addresses) are allowed to enter the house (destination address) at all—then it’s further filtered so that people within the house are only allowed to access certain rooms (destination ports), depending on if they're the owner, a child, or a guest. The owner is allowed to any room (any port), while children and guests are allowed into a certain set of rooms (specific ports).

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Types of firewalls

Firewalls can either be software or hardware, though it’s best to have both. A software firewall is a program installed on each computer and regulates traffic through port numbers and applications, while a physical firewall is a piece of equipment installed between your network and gateway.

Packet-filtering firewalls

Packet-filtering firewalls, the most common type of firewall, examine packets and prohibit them from passing through if they don’t match an established security ruleset. This type of firewall checks the packet’s source and destination IP addresses. If packets match those of an “allowed” rule on the firewall, then it is trusted to enter the network. Packet-filtering firewalls are divided into two categories: stateful and stateless. Stateless firewalls examine packets independently of one another and lack context, making them easy targets for hackers. In contrast, stateful firewalls remember information about previously passed packets and are considered much more secure.

Next-generation firewalls

Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) combine traditional firewall technology with additional functionality, such as encrypted traffic inspection, intrusion prevention systems, anti-virus, and more. Most notably, it includes deep packet inspection (DPI). While basic firewalls only look at packet headers, deep packet inspection examines the data within the packet itself, enabling users to more effectively identify, categorize, or stop packets with malicious data.

Proxy firewalls filter

Proxy firewalls filter network traffic at the application level. Unlike basic firewalls, the proxy acts as an intermediary between two end systems. The client must send a request to the firewall, where it is then evaluated against a set of security rules and then permitted or blocked. Most notably, proxy firewalls monitor traffic for layer 7 protocols such as HTTP and FTP and use both stateful and deep packet inspection to detect malicious traffic.

Network address translation (NAT)

Network address translation (NAT) firewalls allow multiple devices with independent network addresses to connect to the internet using a single IP address, keeping individual IP addresses hidden. As a result, attackers scanning a network for IP addresses can't capture specific details, providing greater security against attacks. NAT firewalls are similar to proxy firewalls in that they act as an intermediary between a group of computers and outside traffic.

Stateful multilayer inspection (SMLI)

Stateful multilayer inspection (SMLI) firewalls to filter packets at the network, transport, and application layers, comparing them against known trusted packets. Like NGFW firewalls, SMLI also examines the entire packet and only allow them to pass if they pass each layer individually. These firewalls examine packets to determine the state of the communication (thus the name) to ensure all initiated communication is only taking place with trusted sources.

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Antivirus

Antivirus software is a program or set of programs that are designed to prevent, search for, detect, and remove software viruses, and other malicious software like worms, trojans, adware, and more.

Why Do I Need Antivirus Software?

These antivirus tools are critical for users to have installed and up-to-date because a computer without antivirus software protection will be infected within minutes of connecting to the internet. The bombardment is constant, which means antivirus companies have to update their detection tools regularly to deal with the more than 60,000 new pieces of malware created daily.

What Does Antivirus Software Do?

Several different companies build antivirus software and what each offer can vary but all perform some essential functions:

  • Scan specific files or directories for any malware or known malicious patterns
  • Allow you to schedule scans to automatically run for you
  • Allow you to initiate a scan of a particular file or your entire computer, or of a CD or flash drive at any time.
  • Remove any malicious code detected –sometimes you will be notified of an infection and asked if you want to clean the file, other programs will automatically do this behind the scenes.
  • Show you the ‘health’ of your computer

What Are the Benefits of Antivirus Software?

Antivirus solutions protect more than just laptops, office computers, smartphones, and tablets. They protect precious memories, music and photo libraries, and important documents from destruction by malware. Make sure your protection is up to the challenge of defending against the latest threats.

Modern antivirus solutions are capable of:

  • Detecting, blocking, and removing viruses, malware, and ransomware
  • Preventing identity theft and block phishing and fraud
  • Warning about dangerous websites and links before you click
  • Scanning the Dark Web to find if an email address has been compromised
  • Keeping online accounts protected with secure password encryption
  • Providing simple training to teach you and your family how to be even safer online
  • Tuning up your computer to keep it running smoothly, just like new

How Does Antivirus Software Work?

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Many antivirus software programs still download malware definitions straight to your device and scan your files in search of matches. But since, as we mentioned, most malware regularly morphs in appearance to avoid detection, Webroot works differently. Instead of storing examples of recognized malware on your device, it stores malware definitions in the cloud. This allows us to take up less space, scan faster, and maintain a more robust threat library.

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