What is difference between firewall and Anti Virus Software?

Answer 1

ANTIVIRUS
Antivirus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware).

Antivirus software typically uses two different techniques to accomplish this:

Examining (scanning) files to look for known viruses matching definitions in a virus dictionary
Identifying suspicious behavior from any computer program which might indicate infection. Such analysis may include data captures, port monitoring and other methods.
Most commercial antivirus software uses both of these approaches, with an emphasis on the virus dictionary approach.

Historically, the term antivirus has also been used for benign computer viruses that spread and combated malicious viruses. This was common on the Amiga computer platform.

FIREWALL
A firewall is an information technology (IT) security device which is configured to permit, deny or proxy data connections set and configured by the organization's security policy. Firewalls can either be hardware and/or software based.

A firewall's basic task is to control traffic between computer networks with different zones of trust. Typical examples are the Internet which is a zone with no trust and an internal network which is (and should be) a zone with high trust. The ultimate goal is to provide controlled interfaces between zones of differing trust levels through the enforcement of a security policy and connectivity model based on the least privilege principle and separation of duties.

A firewall is also called a Border Protection Device (BPD) in certain military contexts where a firewall separates networks by creating perimeter networks in a DMZ. In a BSD context they are also known as a packet filter. A firewall's function is analogous to firewalls in building construction.

Proper configuration of firewalls demands skill from the firewall administrator. It requires considerable understanding of network protocols and of computer security. Small mistakes can render a firewall worthless as a security tool.

Answer 2

A Firewall is basically a software or a hardware, that filters incoming and outgoing packets and applications. Packets are somethng like web page requests, chatting cookies etc while applications are all the applications files that come in or go out of the Internet Network such as .doc, .xls, .jpg, .mpeg etc

A Firewall will therefore detect,

Intrusions to the Network
A Hacker gaining access to your Network
Trojan Horses that try to get into your Network
Malicoius files, that may try to attack the network

But does not do scans on legitimate files and simply let them into the network.

An Anti Virus is a software that checks for viruses and other spyware, adware that may compromise your Network Security. Files that have been granted permission from the Firewall and which proves to do some destruction to the Internal Network, will be detected by the Anti Virus Software and deleted there itself as per the Administrators configuration.

So, a Network to be free from external threats, both a Firewall and an Anti Virus software should be present, at the minimum.

BYE - Imtiyaz G

Answer 3

A firewall is a security system that acts as a protective boundary between a network and the outside world. Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) is firewall software that is used to set restrictions on what information is communicated from your home or small office network to and from the Internet to your network.


Antivirus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware).

Antivirus software typically uses two different techniques to accomplish this:

Examining (scanning) files to look for known viruses matching definitions in a virus dictionary
Identifying suspicious behavior from any computer program which might indicate infection. Such analysis may include data captures, port monitoring and other methods.
Most commercial antivirus software uses both of these approaches, with an emphasis on the virus dictionary approach.

Answer 4

Firewall: 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 .Advanced personal firewalls also detect outbound traffic to guard against spyware, which could be sending your surfing habits to a Web site. It alerts 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. antivirus program: Software that searches for known viruses. Also known as a "virus scanner." As new viruses are discovered by the antivirus vendor, their binary patterns are added to a signature database that is downloaded periodically to the user's antivirus program via the Web. Two Different Approaches Virus scanners work two ways. The more common method scans the file against all known viruses each time the file is opened. The second method, such as used by the Sophos antivirus program, takes a blueprint of every file ahead of time. It computes a checksum of each file's contents and stores it in a database. The next time a file is opened, the software recomputes the checksum and compares it to the one in the database to see if the file has changed. If it has, the program scans the file for viruses. If not, the file is considered virus free. Since most files are virus free, this method is faster because recomputing a checksum is considerably faster than comparing the file with all the binary signatures Good Luck my friend!

Answer 5

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Answer 6

A Firewall is a Trusted security mechanism that sits between private network and outside world.Firewall can either be software or hardware.it is installed in a specially designated computer separate from the rest of the network so that no incoming request can get directly at private network resource.Basically, a firewall work with router which examines a network packet whether to forward it towards its destination or not.
Whether Anti virus is a program or software which used to detect virus from the machine to safe our data,maintain internet speed and protect their computer assets.

Answer 7

A firewall is a software which when installed on your computer, prevents unauthorized access to it from the internet. This prevents the computer being taken over by a hacker. Free firewalls like Zone Alarm are available on the internet and Windows comes with a firewall installed.
An antivirus program detects pieces of malicious code, known as viruses, and helps you get rid of them. Such viruses could reach your pc from the internet or through removable media like floppies and pen drives.

Answer 8

A fire wall does not allow unauthorised programs. Antivirus either stops only programs that contains harmful software or viruses. I can give a few links that offer free virus and spyware removers...!You may be having a virus or spyware installed on your PC. Norton, AVG , Avast are free antivirus software. Ad-aware, Ewido are free spyware removers. You can download free softwares at
http://fixit.in/antivirus.html and http://fixit.in/spywareremover.html

Answer 9

A firewall is a program that is designed for keeping unwanted connections out of your computer. A an antivirus is designed to protect your computer from malicious programs that want to harm your computer.

Answer 10

fire wall blocks un wanted popups

where as antivirus protects ur computer against possible virus attacks