A firewall is like a gatekeeper for your computer. You want to keep your personal information in and keep cybercriminals’ attacks out. The firewall enforces rules about access to a computer, and the Norton Smart Firewall checks not only what’s coming in, but also what’s going out. If a cybercriminal were to sneak in and try to take your information with them, they could be caught on the way out. The Smart Firewall helps block your data like passwords, keystrokes and files from going out the door. The Norton network layer of protection also includes AI-powered technology that analyzes the network traffic, quarantines anything suspicious, and updates the Smart Firewall when new protection rules come into play. A firewall is one key component of computer security protection.
As a key component in cybersecurity solutions, firewalls help protect your devices specifically by doing the following:
- Helping preventing access by unauthorized users through the Internet
- Monitoring communication between your computer and other computers on the Internet
- Providing a filter that allows or blocks attempts to access the information on your computer, based on pre-set rules
- Warning you if another computer attempts to connect to yours
- Warning you if the applications on your computer attempt to connect to other computers
Firewalls are one component of protection for your computer. Cybersecurity solutions include several more key technological components that work together to help protect your devices in different ways, such as antivirus technology that works to help protect your information at the file level. Just as you would if you want to protect your home with security cameras and motion sensors, strong locks on the doors and windows, and a guard dog who barks stridently whenever someone approaches, cybersecurity solutions use multiple means for protection, including a firewall that is designed to protect against unauthorized access, and from the wrong data getting in or out of your computer.
You connect to the web through networks, and networks can be accessed by others. Someone who gains access to your computer through the internet can access your valuable information. Remote access to your computer can mean cybercriminals can access sensitive files or your saved log-in information. In cybersecurity solutions, firewalls help protect against unauthorized access and data going in and out of your computer. They help block your data like passwords, your keystrokes, or files like your bank statements from going out the door, so to speak, of your computer. Specific cyberthreats that firewalls help protect against include:
- Improper Connection Attempts - Be warned about connection attempts from other computers and of attempts by programs on your computer to connect to other computers
- Port Scans - Cloak the inactive ports on your computer thereby providing protection against attacks through hacking techniques such as port scanning
- Intrusions - Monitor the network traffic to or from your computer for suspicious behavior and helps stop attacks before they threaten your system
A firewall is designed to protect against these types of intrusions to your computer and works in conjunction with the other layers of security to provide advanced online threat protection.
An Intrusion Prevention System is technology that looks at network (e.g. Internet) traffic to detect security threats like unwanted access. In Norton Device Security, the Intrusion Prevention System works together with the Smart Firewall to detect malware and intrusions from network traffic. The Intrusion Prevention System inspects traffic in a much deeper way than the Smart Firewall. Once the Smart Firewall lets permitted traffic in, Intrusion Prevention System carefully examines the contents of the traffic that comes through.
A firewall is like a filter or barrier, but something has to complement the firewall with information of which rules to apply. In Norton Device Security feature, another part called the Intrusion Prevention System, or IPS, uses machine learning to look at millions of data points of what good traffic and bad traffic does. The IPS complements the Norton Smart Firewall with its learnings. This is particularly important for security in the case of new cyberattack methods that cybercriminals try to use to infiltrate computers or home networks, or to help protect against attacks that use old malicious code re-purposed in different ways to bypass security filters. IPS and Smart Firewall are part of the layer of the Norton Device Security feature that helps protect your computer at the network level, and they work in conjunction with other parts of the Device Security feature like antivirus that provides protection in additional ways. With all of the features and technologies that make up the Norton Device Security, you can have peace of mind that viruses and malware that attempt to enter your computer can get caught by one of the layers of advanced security technology.
All Windows™ and Mac® computers have a firewall built in, but a firewall is just one part of cybersecurity. The Norton Smart Firewall provides more advanced firewall features monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic, and is complemented by the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) which informs the Smart Firewall about what “good” and “bad” traffic to allow or block. Because it looks at communications between your computer and other computers on the Internet, it helps protect your computer by:
- Warning you if other computers or programs on your computer attempt to connect to other computers
- Cloaking inactive ports (where internet traffic comes in), providing protection against hacking techniques that use them
- Monitoring network traffic coming into and going out from your computer for suspicious behavior, and helping block attacks before they intrude onto your system
While a built-in firewall in a computer is one step toward security, cybersecurity solutions that include a firewall provides much more thorough protection against various sorts of cyberthreats like malware, viruses and intrusions.
