

Circuit gateway firewalls can also Virtual Private Network (VPN) over the Internet by doing encryption from firewall to firewall.ģ. Circuit Gateways: Circuit gateways firewalls operate at the transport layer, which means that they can reassemble, examine or block all the packets

Packet filtering firewalls can be used as a weapon in network attack defense against Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and IP Spoofing attacks.Ģ. Packet filtering firewalls filters packets based on addresses and port number. Packet Filtering Firewalls: Packet filtering firewalls are functioning at the IP packet level. Linux Operating System include and Open Source firewall called iptables.įirewalls can be classified in to four based on whether they filter at the IP packet level, at the TCP session level, at the application level or hybrid.ġ. Microsoft ISA Server, Zone Alarm, Comodo etc are some leading software based firewalls.

Software firewalls can be installed on servers or workstations and they help to prevent unwanted inbound and outbound traffic. Cisco and Checkpoint are the two leading companies which make hardware firewalls. Hardware firewalls are separate devices which function as dedicated firewalls (They also contain software but normally stored in ROM to prevent tampering). Firewalls can be either stand-alone systems or included in other devices such as Firewall is a device and/or a sotware that stands between a local network and the Internet, and filters traffic that might be harmful. A firewall is a hardware and/or software which functions in a networked environment to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications.
