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TechKnowSurge Catalog Videos DEMO: Software Firewalls
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DEMO: Software Firewalls

Firewalls control which network traffic is allowed to reach devices, operating at both the network edge and directly on individual machines. Most modern operating systems include a built-in software firewall that runs automatically without requiring manual setup.

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About this video

A firewall is a security tool that monitors and controls network traffic based on defined rules, preventing unauthorized access while permitting legitimate communication. Placed at the edge of a network, a firewall acts as a barrier between internal devices and the outside world, ensuring that unsolicited or potentially malicious traffic cannot reach the machines behind it. Without this protection, every device on a network would be directly exposed to external attack attempts. Network-edge firewalls alone are not sufficient, because threats can also originate from within a local network. If an unauthorized user gains access to the internal network, devices without their own protection remain vulnerable. Host-based software firewalls address this gap by running directly on individual machines and enforcing traffic rules at the device level, providing defense even when the perimeter has been compromised. Most modern operating systems include a software firewall that is enabled by default, requiring no manual configuration to begin offering protection. On Windows, Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security exposes the full rule set governing inbound and outbound traffic, giving administrators visibility into exactly what connections the system is configured to allow or deny. Understanding how these two layers of firewall protection work together is foundational knowledge for anyone managing or securing networked systems.

What you'll learn

What's covered

Firewalls

Aligned to

CompTIA Tech+
6.2 Explain methods to secure devices and best practices.
CompTIA A+ Core 2
2.1 Summarize various security measures and their purposes.
2.5 Given a scenario, manage and configure basic security settings in the Microsoft Windows OS.
2.6 Given a scenario, configure a workstation to meet best practices for security.
CompTIA Server+
3.5 Given a scenario, apply network security methods.
3.2 Given a scenario, apply server hardening methods.

Key terms

Firewall
A network security device that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined security rules.
Packet Filtering
A firewall technique that inspects packets and allows or blocks them based on source, destination, and protocol.
Network Segmentation
The practice of dividing a network into smaller segments to improve performance and limit the spread of security threats.
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.
Inbound Rule
A firewall rule that controls network traffic coming into a host or network from an external source.
Outbound Rule
A firewall rule that controls network traffic leaving a host or network toward an external destination.

Topics

Firewalls Network Security Windows Defender Firewall Host Based Security Inbound Outbound Rules Traffic Filtering Networking

Transcript

Another piece of software that helps protect your machine is a firewall.

Here's a diagram of a network. We can think of this as our home network, with a bunch of devices on it, and we want to protect those devices. If we were to just have this open to the outside world, anybody could start trying to hack your different devices on this network. So what we do is we include a firewall on the edge of the network that will stop traffic from being able to just enter into your network unless it's actually called for, unless it's actually legitimate traffic.

But the problem is that your computers also have some threats internally, on your local network. If anybody were to ever get onto your local network, then it could cause a problem and people can actually get to your computer. So we have software firewalls that we install on the computer to protect the computer locally.

Most of the machines already have a software firewall installed. So whether you have Linux or Mac or you have Windows, you probably have a firewall that's up and running, and you don't need to do anything about it to get it up and running.

Windows Defender Firewall

I'm going to click the start button here, and I'm going to type in Windows Firewall. We see Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security, and I can open it up. This is the firewall. I won't get really in depth into what this is all doing, but essentially we've got these different rules that either are going to accept or block traffic that are coming through this machine right here.

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