Which Firewall for the Job?

About this interactive

The name comes from buildings: a firewall is a wall that keeps a fire in one section so it cannot spread through the whole building. A network firewall does the same job, limiting the damage by separating what it protects from everything else, letting your machines reach what they need while adversaries cannot get back in. Most of the time "firewall" means a network-based firewall. It sits between networks, the office and the internet, one LAN and another, and controls the traffic crossing between them. Firewalls divide networks much as routers do, and many routers can run firewall functions. The lesson names two specialized kinds. A host-based firewall is installed on one machine, a desktop, a laptop or a server, and protects that machine wherever it is. A web application firewall sits in front of a web server and watches the web requests themselves for attacks on the application. Match the firewall to what you are protecting: a network, one host, or a web application.

What you'll learn

Choose the type of firewall a job calls for: a network-based firewall that controls traffic between networks, a host-based firewall installed on one machine, or a web application firewall in front of a web server
Explain that firewalls limit damage by separating what they protect from everything else, and that routers can perform firewall functions and firewalls can route

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

3.2 Given a scenario, apply security principles to secure enterprise infrastructure.

4.5 Given a scenario, modify enterprise capabilities to enhance security.

Key terms

Network-based Firewall: A firewall deployed at the network perimeter to monitor and control traffic flowing between networks or network segments.
Host-based Firewall: A software firewall installed directly on an individual computer that monitors and controls network traffic to and from that specific host. Host-based firewalls provide a layer of defense that persists even when a device leaves the corporate network.
Web Application Firewall: A firewall that filters and monitors HTTP traffic to and from a web application to prevent attacks.
Firewall: A network security device that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined security rules.
Stateful Firewall: A firewall that tracks the state of active network connections and makes filtering decisions based on context.

Topics

Firewall Network Based Firewall Host Based Firewall Web Application Firewall Interactive Categorize

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