Firewall:
A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.
There are several types of firewall techniques:
# Packet filter: Looks at each packet entering or leaving the network and accepts or rejects it based on user-defined rules. Packet filtering is fairly effective and transparent to users, but it is difficult to configure. In addition, it is susceptible to IP spoofing.
# Application gateway: Applies security mechanisms to specific applications, such as FTP and Telnet servers. This is very effective, but can impose a performance degradation.
# Circuit-level gateway: Applies security mechanisms when a TCP or UDP connection is established. Once the connection has been made, packets can flow between the hosts without further checking.
# Proxy server: Intercepts all messages entering and leaving the network. The proxy server effectively hides the true network addresses.
In practice, many firewalls use two or more of these techniques in concert.
A firewall is considered a first line of defense in protecting private information. For greater security, data can be encrypted.
2006-07-04 19:09:24
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answer #1
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answered by Syaz 2
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In computing, a firewall is a piece of hardware and/or software which functions in a networked environment to prevent some communications forbidden by the security policy, analogous to the function of firewalls in building construction. A firewall is also called a Border Protection Device (BPD), especially in NATO contexts, or packet filter in BSD contexts. A firewall has the basic task of controlling traffic between different zones of trust. Typical zones of trust include the Internet (a zone with no trust) and an internal network (a zone with high trust). The ultimate goal is to provide controlled connectivity between zones of differing trust levels through the enforcement of a security policy and connectivity model based on the least privilege principle.
2006-07-05 02:01:49
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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Way to use Wikipedia, bro.
A firewall is a piece of software or a physical device used to restrict network traffic in order to maintain network security. In most cases, this is accomplished by the blocking and/or monitoring of "ports," which are virtual data connections used to determine the routing of packets (chunks of data). That's the simple answer.
2006-07-05 02:07:07
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answer #3
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answered by Tom Lillis 2
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If you're looking for a site that discusses firewalls and provides reviews, you might want to try Firewall Guide. They also provide links to other resources.
2006-07-05 02:28:05
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answer #4
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answered by ahennegar 4
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Firewalll --- Protects your computer from the hackers... and otehr sort of treats...
thtz in simple
2006-07-05 02:08:32
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answer #5
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answered by fiz_md 2
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