Five Ways a Firewall Can Protect Your Business
A network firewall is a security device that keeps intruders out by blocking them from accessing your computer. It protects computers from outside threats like viruses, malware, spyware, and malicious software. It is essential that every business uses firewalls to stop hackers from accessing sensitive information. A hacker can steal information, disrupt operations (costing you time and money), or even hold the company ransom for its own data. Here are five ways a network firewall can prevent these things from happening to your business.
- By protecting your business from hackers.
The most common way for a hacker to compromise your business is by tricking employees into giving them private and sensitive data. All employees should complete cybersecurity training to prevent this, but firewalls can help as well by alerting you to possible attacks and blocking them.
- By allowing you to block access to websites.
You can also use a firewall to block certain websites from being accessed by your employees. This can be used to ensure that your employees are only visiting company-approved sites but can also be used to protect your network. For example, you can block sketchy shopping sites that might allow malicious software onto your network via illegal downloads.
- By protecting your business from malicious code.
Firewalls can monitor incoming and outgoing data, and alert you to any unusual activity. This can protect your computers from viruses and other malicious software. You can use a firewall to notify you if an attack occurs or someone tries to gain unauthorized access to your computer system. Repeated alerts are a sign that you are on the radar of a threat actor and should look into getting stronger defenses.
- By allowing you to limit bandwidth usage.
You can use a firewall to control network bandwidth by limiting the amount of bandwidth available for different types of data. You can also configure it so that only some types of traffic have access to the internet, such as the office printer, but not certain websites.
- By providing VPN services.
A virtual private network (VPN) allows for secure communications by encrypting traffic that travels across the Internet so that no one else knows about it. You can configure your firewall to allow only specific computers to access the Internet, and then create a tunnel that allows them to communicate securely. It can also be used to encrypt data sent between your business computers and your remote office or connect your local area network (LAN) to a wide area network (WAN).
While they’re not the only party of protecting your business, firewalls are an important part of keeping your information safe and your network protected from outside threats.
