September 6, 2011
Firewalls are protective installations on the operating system that can help keep your data safe and prevent virus or other attacks. It is essential to have an effective firewall in place specially if you store confidential data on your system, the loss or leakage of which can cause grave problems. A firewall can be an effective tool to combat malicious content that may invade your computer irrespective of whether you are using the internet at the workplace or at home. There are essentially two kinds of firewalls that can be installed. Internet users can either use the hardware firewall or the software firewall for warding off cyber attacks. It is also possible to use a combination of both of these for the most effective protection.
Although the same kind of broad functions are performed by both hardware and software firewalls, there is a certain degree of difference that separates both from each other. Hardware firewalls are the first to respond to any incoming attack that originates from outside your network and attempts to invade your operating system. They are the first physical equipment in the network that filters the incoming content. One significant advantage of hardware firewalls is that they do not need any special configuration of your system to be used. Any operating system on the local network is automatically protected by these firewalls without repeated installations on each of them.
A hardware firewall is present in the hardware components. Generally, it is present in the router and uses the process of filtration of packets to keep your system safe. There are several aspects of information that are examined by such firewalls including their source, their intended destinations, the headers by which they are known, etc. There are several in built rules with which such data is compared in order to determine whether the incoming packets are safe or not. At this stage, it is decided whether this data should be allowed to come into the system or should be discarded.
A software firewall on the other hand functions in a different manner from a hardware based one. A software firewall has to be installed onto the operating system be it a computer, a laptop, etc. As this kind of firewall is present on the system itself, it is much better at figuring out legitimate data and authentic information than hardware based one. Apart from figuring out the source and destination, it can also determine the port that is being used and the program that is trying to gain entry to your system.
For complete computer system protection, visit us at Centex Technologies. We are located in Dallas and Killeen in Central Texas and can be contacted on our toll free number – (800) 236-1497