Top 7 Reasons Why a Strong Firewall Is Important

If you are running a business, you know how important it is to protect your data and your company’s assets. A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. There are many reasons why a strong firewall is essential to your business. Here are reasons why you should consider upgrading your firewall today!

1. Defending Against Unauthorized Users and Hackers

A strong firewall prevents unauthorized users from accessing your private information. A hacker will often try to gain unauthorized access to a network by compromising an internal user’s computer. Once they have gained access, they can view, modify or destroy sensitive company data. By installing a firewall, you can stop hackers from gaining access to your network.

2. Preventing Virus Attacks

A strong firewall can block viruses, worms and Trojan horses from attempting to install themselves on your computer. Viruses can cause catastrophic damage to your data, both by corrupting files and deleting them entirely. If a virus manages to infect one of your computers, the virus can spread across all computers on the same network. A firewall prevents this from happening so that viruses cannot get into your system in the first place!

3. Stopping Spyware

Spyware is a type of malware that installs itself on your computer without your consent, then spies on you and sends that data to third parties. It might track the websites you visit, or it could even capture the information you are typing, like passwords and credit card numbers. Spyware sits quietly on your computer, gathering all kinds of information about you and sending it out to whoever created the software. Marketers can use it to learn more about you or by criminals trying to steal personal information. By blocking Spyware, firewalls keep this data from getting into anyone else’s hands.

4. Monitoring Network Traffic

The firewall monitors network traffic, which allows it to block inbound and outbound connections based on your set rules. Unlike an antivirus program, which uses these rules as a last resort, the firewall constantly watches all incoming and outgoing data packets against these rules to ensure it’s allowed to pass through. Firewalls are an important part of your network security. Firewalls help to protect your computer from incoming attacks and outgoing data leaks. They can also monitor and control the traffic that leaves and enters your network, giving you much greater control over what data is accessible from both sides.

5. Blocking Access to Unapproved Websites

If your company allows employees to use the internet while they work, you will want to block access to unapproved websites. You don’t want your employees to waste their time on social media or other websites with no benefit to your business. While you can implement a firewall that blocks specific unapproved websites, you can also implement a content filter that will block all non-work-related websites. These filters will block social media, online shopping and news websites. You can also set up filters to block certain categories of websites like gambling sites or pornographic sites. These content filters are important because it allows your employees to focus on their work instead of wasting time on the internet.

6. Set-Up with Cloud Computing Services

Firewalls are also important because they can be used in conjunction with cloud computing services, which allow you to store your company’s data and applications online instead of on your physical server. A firewall can help protect the information stored in your cloud, helping you keep it safe from any unauthorized parties who might try to access it.

7. Helping to Avoid Backup Appliance Sprawl

Backup appliances are perfect for disaster recovery and getting data back to where it needs to be after a hack, but what about data security when your data is stored on these backups?

The past few years have seen a rise in ransomware attacks. Often, those attacks are successful because it’s difficult to tell if data has been changed before you restore it from the backup appliance. This can lead to more downtime and frustration for your users waiting for their apps to come back online. A firewall can help you avoid this problem. By using a firewall that does a deep inspection of packets, you’ll know whether data has been altered before it gets restored. This means less downtime for your users, more peace of mind in your IT department, and happier customers overall. If you need help with backup appliance, you can work with reliable service providers, who’ll also help install strong firewalls.

Wrapping Up

At the heart of every network is a firewall. It’s what separates one network from another and keeps unwanted guests out of your system while allowing authorized users access. Without a firewall, your data would be at risk of being stolen, modified, or destroyed by unauthorized users. This article covers the importance of strong firewalls.

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