Similarly, a virus targets specific areas of your computer, resulting in crashes, insufficient memory, deleted files and programs, and more. A worm replicates on its own, spreading to other areas of your system, potentially inflicting significant damage. Trojans may come in the form of an application that appears to be harmless, but when you click on it, your system gets infected. Worms, Trojans, and viruses can all spread inside your network, infecting various computers. Clicking a link inside the email causes the malicious software to be installed on your computer, thereby infecting it and possibly spreading to the rest of your network. Malware includes ransomware, viruses, worms, spyware, adware, pharming, phishing, and Trojan horses, each of which can be used to infect and control aspects of your computer.Ī firewall cannot always protect you from these threats because they often infiltrate your system through an email. There are several risks that can still impact your network. Having a firewall does not necessarily protect you from all threats. What does a firewall do? It protects your network from unauthorized access to mitigate the risk from cyber attacks.

It blocks incoming threats based on a set of pre-programmed rules that also may dictate which users can access specific network areas. For example, depending on where a firewall is installed, it may guard against insider threats in a network segment or act as a barrier against external threats at the network perimeter.Īs your organization’s first line of defense, a firewall monitors and filters all network traffic including outgoing traffic, application-layer traffic, online transactions, communications, and connectivity. Whether a hardware appliance or a software program that is protecting a corporate network or a personal computer, a firewall is essential to network security. It inspects and authenticates all data packets in network traffic before they are allowed to move to a more secure environment. What is a firewall and what does it do? Basically, a firewall is a cybersecurity solution that protects your computer or network from unwanted traffic coming in or going out.

Firewall in computer is used for