A firewall is an essential part of your business' security system. Without it, your network is open to threats. A firewall keeps destructive and disruptive forces out, and controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on security parameters that you can control and refine.
An introduction to firewalls
The term “firewall” originally referred to a literal wall that would prevent fire from spreading inside a building, or vehicle, buying extra time for occupants to escape. A software or hardware firewall that you might have on your PC or network, works in the same way. Like the wall, it is designed not to let the “fire” (in this case, cyber threats) through.
With an effective firewall, you can prevent unauthorised access to your computers and network. This protects your data from being compromised. It also gives you extra protection against viruses and malware. If a firewall detects anything suspicious or malicious attempting to enter your private network from the internet, it will not allow it through.
At home, you may have a software-based firewall, but your business will need a hardware-based firewall to keep all unwanted traffic out of your network. A business-class firewall will also enable you to control what computers on your network send externally. So, you can determine what kind of emails are being sent out from your network, meaning you can prevent employees from sending confidential or sensitive information.
Control inbound and outbound traffic
An effective firewall will control both inbound and outbound internet traffic. This means you can choose to block access to specific websites within your network as well as blocking malicious content from outside your network. For example, you can protect employees from accessing potentially harmful or unsafe websites that could lead to your network being infected with malware. You can also choose to block inappropriate or non-work-related websites, therefore enhancing the overall productivity of your employees.
Why do I need a firewall?
An effective, managed firewall will significantly reduce risk to your business. Without a firewall, your business could easily succumb to a cyberattack, causing you to lose all of your important data. This would not only disrupt business processes, but it would also reduce productivity and likely damage your reputation and brand.
Did you know? 60% of small businesses close within 6 months of a cyberattack.
Cybercriminals can easily probe every computer connected to the internet and attempt to penetrate their systems. Without a firewall, they can gain access to your important files, depositing them, removing them or using them maliciously. The potential implications of this can be disastrous, often leading to considerable financial loss, reputational damage, and fines from authorities.
But a properly configured, maintained, and monitored firewall will protect your data, network, and devices. Importantly, you need to ensure that your firewall has the power to manage normal and encrypted internet traffic without slowing down your devices or compromising security. If you have a good IT support partner, they will configure and manage the firewall for you as well as taking care of all security updates. As such, you can be assured that your firewall is being taken care of by a team of IT experts, helping to protect your business from new and emerging threats.
Why it’s crucial to have the right cyber security strategies in place now
Over the course of 2020, cyber threats became an increasing concern to businesses and individuals, and this is set to continue throughout 2021. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the recent rise in remote and hybrid working, recognising that current circumstances make employees, devices, and systems more susceptible to attack. They are therefore creating more sophisticated, targeted, and frequent attacks. In fact, Cyber Crime Magazine reported over 4,000 new, malicious COVID-related websites were identified within the first few months of the first lockdown. And this is not set to slow down – the number of attacks has continued to rise.
As such, businesses must be more proactive than ever when it comes to their cyber security and having an effective firewall in place will contribute to this.
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