13 Most Misunderstood Facts About Firewall

Swathi Raju

Comments are off for this post

What is a Firewall?

A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on certain pre-determined security rules. Typically, a firewall establishes a barrier between a trusted internal network and an untrusted external network, which is the Internet. Check our latest article “What is a Firewall?” To know more about this…

13 Myths believed about Firewall

#1 A Firewall affects the system’s performance

It is a common notion to believe that a firewall reduces the speed of the system’s performance. It solely depends on the type of firewall used. Hardware firewalls are physical devices technically between a system and the Internet. Software firewalls exist within the computer and depend on the computer’s resources for power.

An individual or a business entity should decide on which firewall to run based on processing speed. Multiple firewalls functioning in one network might potentially affect the system’s performance speed.

#2 A Firewall is same as an Anti-virus

This is a wrong assumption. Firewalls and Anti-virus are essentially designed to provide security services at different levels. Firewalls monitor and control the traffic on the network and grant access to connections that are secure and block malicious connections. Anti-virus software programs are required for the detection of malicious files, harmful codes, and applications that might compromise the system.

In order to achieve up-to-date network security in your system, a firewall and anti-virus must prevail to offer maximum protection to the system.

#3 When a Firewall is in-place, updates aren’t required

This is not true. Firewalls are designed to prevent known threats to your network especially during installation. Given new threats are surfacing rapidly, firewall update is mandatory. If a Firewall configuration is not updated in regular intervals then it could lead to network exposure.

#4 A Firewall is all we need

This is a misunderstanding. In reality, a network security policy-based firewall can’t vouch for protection in an integral framework. A firewall only enhances security parameters in a network but still can’t eradicate attacks from intruders. Firewall’s capabilities are limited when it involves external networks. When the firewall installed in your system has a loophole then it would be a piece of cake for the intruders to breakthrough. Therefore, the Firewall isn’t everything and cannot be relied completely. It is essential to have cyber defenses.

#5 A Firewall is always a hardware

A firewall is not necessarily often hardware. There are firewalls which are hardware, software and a combination of both. It depends on which type of firewall is being implemented on the network.

#6 A Firewall safeguards you against all possible threats

This isn’t true. A firewall is not designed to prevent all sorts of threats. A firewall active in a system wouldn’t be able to detect a user stealing data or if a user has harmful intentions. A firewall can only fulfill its purpose, not beyond it.

#7 A Firewall protects every Information Exchange

This is a false statement. A firewall does manage the network traffic between Internet and your system, but it doesn’t include encryption of data.

#8 If a threat is new, a firewall shields you from new threats

A firewall protects your system against only known threats. If a threat is a recent one and your firewall isn’t up-to-date then it could affect your network as it is left defenseless. A firewall cannot fight against every new threat that surfaces. A firewall configuration should be kept on-check.

#9 When Firewall is active, there isn’t a need for an Anti-virus

Anti-virus and firewalls are totally different from one another. A firewall can’t prevent viruses from entering the network whereas an anti-virus must prevent viruses from entering a system. Firewall follows a set of defined rules that blocks or permits access to certain information based on the port numbers, source, and destination of the data packets. An anti-virus is mandatory to protect your system from hackers.

#10 A Firewall detects Malware

A software firewall is designed to block potential entry points that could be used by intruders to access your system. However, when a system already has malware and installing a firewall as a counter-measure would not eradicate it.

A software firewall wouldn’t detect malware which is already existing on your system. A malware hit could make the user run a request which has malicious intention underlying which the firewall might not detect.

#11 Firewalls are always Host-based Intrusion Prevention Systems (HIPS)

A firewall is designed to bypass network information. With the growing technology, firewall monitors and detects unauthorized data packets using port numbers, source and destination. There is a possibility of chaos to prevail as not every alert identified should be an intrusion.

A repetitive action of allowing every alert detected, the user might not be cautious when an actual threat alert surfaces and granting access to the intruder unintentionally.

HIPS are the ancestors of the anti-malware program.

#12 Firewall protection is only for larger firms

A misconception is that firewalls are required only for larger businesses and online payment-oriented companies. But it is recommended to have firewalls configured by every business no matter the size of the business.

Growing cyber threats spreading amongst all the industries irrespective of the employee count, firewalls are mandatory to keep their network stable and secure.

#13 Cloud-based businesses do not need a firewall

Another common notion of individuals to underestimate the necessity of firewalls as their business involves cloud-based computing. The data are stored in the cloud server and they eliminate the need for a firewall in their system. Logically, their data is protected in the cloud server but the system and devices that user access needs firewall protection.