What's a"FIREWALL"?

Question

I'm sort of new at all this computer jargon.

Answer 1

The term 'firewall' makes no sense unless you first understand (of all things) basic construction principles of automobiles.

In a typical automobile the engine is in the front (under the hood). In order to protect the passengers from a fuel fire in the engine compartment, there is a metal wall (behind the engine, in front of where you put your feet) that separates the engine compartment from the passenger compartment, logically named a 'firewall'.

From this, we get the computer term, which refers to either a hardware or software solution intended to protect the computer from external attempts to access without authorization.

For instance, many routers (what you plug your cable modem or DSL modem into) have some sort of firewall solution built-in nowadays.

Both Mac OSX and Windows XP have built-in firewalls. And the company I work for uses an powerful, elaborate hardware firewall appliance to protect our company network.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

(m)

In its original iteration, a firewall is literally a 'fireproof wall' that keeps fire from spreading from one room to another. This protective quality of a firewall is what has translated to the computer world.

The main purpose of a firewall in a computer is to limit access from other computers that are connected through a network. Since the Internet is the world's largest computer network, a firewall is an essential component to reduce the possibility of an unauthorized person gaining access to your computer via the Internet.

Think of a firewall as a bouncer at the door of your personal nightclub (computer). Only those that are authorized (have an invitation) are allowed to pass by the bouncer.

A nightclub with no bouncer has no way to filter patrons as they come in, therefore is less secure by that very fact.

When a bouncer is in place, those that come to the door who are not invited are sent away. Those who are already inside get their hand stamped by the bouncer before leaving so that the he knows that they were previously authorized.

But, just as in real life, those that have fake IDs can fool the bouncer, which is another reason that they are not a cure-all for security.

Another mistake that will compromise the security of your nightclub is leaving a back door unlocked and open (the computer equivalent of opening file attachments that are infected), which will circumvent the security at the front door.

Unauthorized patrons can sneak in the back door and, once they are inside, they can alert other unauthorized patrons on how to access the back door.

A common misconception surrounding firewalls is that they somehow prevent viruses and worms from attacking your computer.

Most worms and viruses come attached to e-mail, requiring the user to open the infected file. Once an infected file is opened, it completely compromises the security created by the firewall. It is the equivalent of having the owner of the nightclub override the decision made by the bouncer to keep someone out.

Once the rouge patron is allowed in, they can go open the backdoor to let others in.

There are two general types of firewalls: hardware and software-based.

In general, hardware firewalls are more flexible, more reliable, and more effective, but also more expensive.

Software firewalls can be more complicated to install and configure and can cause problems to your computer because of conflicts with other programs, but they are generally cheaper (free in some cases).

If you have several computers that you want to safely connect to a high-speed Internet
connection, your best bet is to purchase a broadband router, which acts as both a firewall and a sharing device.

Companies such as Linksys, Netgear, D-link, and SMC - to name a few - offer products that range between $75 to $150.

If you only have a single computer and you want inexpensive protection, you can get a free version of ZoneAlarm, which is available at www.zonelabs.com

Remember, software firewalls can be problematic depending upon what else is already installed in your computer and especially if you are already experiencing some other kind of problem - so installer, beware!

Answer 3

The primary method for keeping a computer secure from intruders. A firewall allows or blocks traffic into and out of a private network or the user's computer. Firewalls are widely used to give users secure access to the Internet as well as to separate a company's public Web server from its internal network. Firewalls are also used to keep internal network segments secure; for example, the accounting network might be vulnerable to snooping from within the enterprise.

In the home, a personal firewall typically comes with or is installed in the user's computer. Personal firewalls may also detect outbound traffic to guard against spyware, which could be sending your surfing habits to a Web site. They alert you when software makes an outbound request for the first time.

In the organization, a firewall can be a stand-alone machine or software in a router or server. It can be as simple as a single router that filters out unwanted packets, or it may comprise a combination of routers and servers each performing some type of firewall processing.

Answer 4

Firewall: A wall of fire. See also: Internet Security.

Internet Security: A means of securing the Internet. See also: Firewall.

Have A Nice Day!!!

Answer 5

FIREWALL, in its simplest sense, is a software (or hardware), which has the CAPABILITY to intercept communication, whether from outside going to your computer OR from your computer going outside, and then it asks your permission.

The best thing about firewall is that:
(1) You can detect the IP of those who wants to intrude your computer;
(2) You can detect what software (from your computer) are going to communicate to outside world.

Example-1 (GOING out): use Internet Explorer (IE), and copy (^C) anything from an Internet page, then open MS WORD (ms word 2003) and paste (^V) it. You will see on status bar that WORD is communicating to the Internet. If you have firewall like ZoneAlarm, it will ask if you allow it to communicate or not. (I did not say that WORD has virus or spying... I did say WORD is communicating to outside).

Example-2 (GOING in): If you have shared folder on LAN and other computers have viruses, it can save virus files on your shared folder. Install a firewall and you will see they cannot save on your shared folder.

Take the world's best firewall system, the Zone Alarm (free edition) from the link below...

Answer 6

A firewall can be hardware or software or a combination of them. It blocks people from comming into your computer. Fire walls can be set to different security levels.

Answer 7

It is much like the firewall in your car between your engine and you. It is a device that sits between you and the outside world to keep you safer (in this case from hacker attack, not fire). A hardware device is recommended. Even NAT (network address translation) is better than nothing.

Answer 8

it is like a guard in front of your house he protects you from crooks,thieves and other dangers but allows your close ones
friends and relatives to your house.

a firewall is just like that it checks every data coming from the Internet to your PC if it is safe it allows and denies if it is harm full
worms or virus.

Answer 9

A fireproof wall in a building designed to act as a barrier to forestall or prevent a fire from spreading.

Answer 10

it is a tool to save your computer from virus and hacking or unauthorised entry





for further details

contact


[e-mail]