A firewall safeguards your business by proactively blocking unauthorized access to your business’s network.

What is a Firewall?

Firewalls function by protecting your computer from hackers, malware, and viruses by monitoring data entering your network or computer to ensure nothing unintended or harmful slips through.

Being a key feature of most credible security software, basic computer firewalls are built in the security settings of most computer operating systems like Microsoft Windows.

Besides blocking legitimate activity, poorly managed firewalls can cause difficulty to end-users and lead to workflow errors or the user disabling a firewall out of frustration.

How Do Firewalls Work?

Firewalls prevent malicious software and unauthorized connections from accessing your network by examining the data that is being sent to your network and determining if it is legitimate based on predefined conditions. They monitor outgoing and incoming network traffic, and if they detect unauthorized access in your system, they decide whether to allow or block based on the instructions given.

Types of Firewalls

Firewalls can either be hardware or software based. Most small businesses go for software firewalls out of ease. This type of firewall is installed directly on computers and only protects the machine it’s on.

Most operating systems have built-in software firewalls that offer basic protections to the users. There are advanced software firewalls that are customized to protect against ransomware, malware, and viruses. On the other hand, hardware firewalls are router or stand-alone systems which act as a barrier, or firewall, between the internal network of a business and the internet. Hardware firewalls are more robust and can protect many devices on a network without the installation of any software on individual devices.

Benefits Of Having a Firewall in Your Business

Blocks Unauthorized Access

Having a business brought down by cyber-attack can be devastating for most small to mid-sized businesses. Any unauthorized access to the system files could lead to leakage of private client information, loss of vital data and could compromise more security features.

Any business that has a managed firewall is better protected against these problems. If an unauthorized user tries to access your network remotely, a firewall can give an alert on the attempted breach of security while blocking access.

By doing this, your business will be made aware of the attempt and have time to respond before the issue becomes more severe and potentially devastating.

Prevents Access to Problematic Content

Some firewalls don’t just focus on traffic coming into your network. They can also prevent unauthorized access to dangerous or distracting websites

Companies will often choose to block access to sites like Facebook or other unnecessary sites during office hours since they feel it reduces distractions, which will affect the productivity of the work.

But it’s not simply about preventing wasted time. Firewalls can also prevent access to malicious sites that are known to install malware and viruses on computers of those who visit them.

Such protections help prevent employees from being victims of a phishing scam. A phishing attack often employs an official looking email to get an unsuspecting employee to click on links that direct them to a website that harbours these destructive programs.

Managed firewalls will help your company ensure access to legitimate websites and prevent access to ones that can do you harm.

Protects Against Viruses

While firewalls themselves don’t act as antivirus software, they do help prevent the installation of viruses by ensuring only authorized data flows through your network.

By detecting and blocking any network threats, your firewall acts as a first line of defense in the protection against viruses. To ensure complete coverage, companies will want to deploy both firewalls and antivirus software.

Business owners should always ensure their firewall is kept updated with the most recent threat profiles.

Firewalls Are Your First Defense Line

Despite firewalls providing security to your business, they are fallible.

An end-user might override the firewall settings leaving the system open to attacks. This happens when some employees fall victim to scammers or fail to understand the importance of firewalls.

To protect against such failure, you should educate your team on the importance of firewalls. In addition, don’t simply rely on software firewalls that are easily deactivated. Hardware firewalls setup and managed by dedicated IT professionals mitigate this issue.

Businesses should always note that one of the best ways of protecting information is by limiting access to it.

Storing your most secure files only where necessary. If a file is stored in many areas, it is more vulnerable. Access of such files should be limited to those who need them, and they should have strong passwords in addition to being encrypted.

Firewalls Do More Than Securing Your Business

Good firewalls do not simply block traffic; they do more than that. You can use a firewall to check for details about the traffic on your network. Checking the traffic helps with troubleshooting network issues and regulatory compliance issues. Firewalls also help in enforcing business policies on internet usage by filtering unprotected to unsavoury content.

Always Keep Your Firewall Updated

Up-to-date firewalls work best. Security threats are constantly evolving, and a firewall isn’t something you just set and forget.

If you fail to maintain and update your firewall, you leave your business exposed to the latest threats. Like all antivirus software, the firewall needs regular updates to detect the newest threats identified by the manufacturer. Outdated security systems are a common cause of network breaches and one attacker specifically hunt for.

Conclusion

A firewall is a crucial part of any network’s security setup, and your business should not be without one. Our team at Forbtech can assist by configuring firewalls to minimize vulnerabilities and ensure that they’re set up correctly. We can also customize settings to give you exactly what you need from your firewall protection. Contact us today to learn more!