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| A
term you hear often
is "firewalls."
But what is a firewall?
A firewall is a wall
between two rooms
or spaces which prevents,
or hopes to prevent,
fire from spreading
from one room to another.
So if one room catches
on fire the fire will
not be able to breach
or break through the
firewall to reach
and damage the other
room. Firewalls are
not absolute barriers
but serve to prevent
most openings or slow
the fire's damage.
A firewall on the
internet is similar-it
serves to prevent
one computer from
compromising another
computer. |
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| There
are two types of firewalls
used currently: software
and hardware. A software
firewall is a computer
program running on
a computer which performs
it's duties on that
computer. We will
discuss its duties
in a moment but now
realize that a software
firewall is just bits
of code on a computer.
A hardeware firewall
is a physical piece
of equipment designed
to perform firewall
duties. A hardware
firewall may actually
be another computer
or a dedicated piece
of equipment with
its only function
being serving as a
firewall. |
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| So
what does a internet
firewall do? The reality
of the situation is
that it keeps out
malicious hackers
and people who seek
to do damage and/or
take over other peoples'
servers. Firewalls
really serve no other
purpose. Firewalls
seek to limit the
access to a server
or computer and let
in only the people
who need to be there.
Firewalls also attempt
to limit the impact
of computer viruses
from spreading and
preventing individuals
from running a DOS
attack. (A DOS attack
is a Denial of Service
attack which attempts
to stop the server
from responding or
running on the internet
by flooding it with
millions of attacks.)
By having a good firewall
you eliminate some
risks with a computer
on the internet and
hopefully keep out
the malicious people.
Will a firewall guarantee
that a server will
not be compromised?
No, but like a real
firewall, it does
slow the fire, or
in this case the attacks,
so they can be dealt
with before the real
damage is done. Firewalls
constantly have to
be tweaked or fine-tuned
to keep out the latest
tricks and traps set
by the hackers. |
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