A firewall is a form of network security that monitors incoming and outgoing online traffic and decides whether to block or to allow specific traffic based on a defined set of security rules. Firewalls has been used to protect networks from the very beginning of the World Wide Web, as they establish a barrier between secured and controlled internal networks that can be trusted and untrusted outside networks, such as the Internet.
Firewalls can be hardware, software, or both and they can prevent attacks and monitor internal traffic/website usage. IT-Serve has successfully completed a trial of a firewall that breaks down all internet usage per employee and gives a detailed report of uploads, downloads and browsing. They are an excellent tool for streamlining your organization. You can block certain sites, like Facebook, Daily Mail or YouTube if you prefer your employees not to use them during office hours -naturally staff can still access these sites on their mobile phones, but if they are on the corporate Wi-Fi, you are still protected.
In recent years many people have been predicting the demise of firewalls, yet they’re still with us. The idea that the perimeter is dead has taken root in our industry, since there’s so many ways for attackers to get into networks -- weak machines, employees that don't prioritize cybersecurity in their day-to-day actions, vulnerable web servers facing the internet, etc. The points of intrusion are almost infinite today.
Even though this has led to increasingly sophisticated attacks that bypass traditional firewalls, Ruvi Kitov, founder and CEO of network security specialist Tufin, recently spoke about the evolution of firewalls to protect enterprises in the 21st century and said in an interview:
“By no means does that equate to the firewall being irrelevant. You have to consider that now, more than ever, security is a multi-layer strategy. A firewall and antivirus protection may have gotten the job done 10 years ago, but there's no such thing anymore as a one-stop shop for security. However, the fact remains: your network is dead in the water without a firewall.”
With anti-virus software it is crucial to have higher efficiency along with a small footprint. This means that any threats are detected and neutralized without the software slowing down your computer. IT-Serve has tested many variations of anti-virus and malware protection over the years and we have world-class solutions starting from just AED 10 per PC per month. If you’d like to know more, simply fill out the form below and we’ll get right back to you.
