What is a Firewall?
A firewall is a set of rules that governs incoming and outgoing connections for a network or a specific device. The goal of firewalls is to protect against intrusions and unwanted outgoing connections.
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More About Firewalls
Firewalls can be hardware or software applications that monitor and control outgoing and incoming connections in a network or an individual device. The most common type of firewall in household devices can limit what software can establish outgoing connections and which incoming requests the network can allow.
In enterprise applications, firewalls can have much more complex sets of rules. Advanced firewalls can monitor packets, help you identify malicious traffic, or filter data at the application layer.
There are multiple types of software firewalls that you can use. Most modern Operating Systems (OS) come with their own firewall software. You can also use cloud-based or proxy firewalls.