Firewall

Firewalls are the part of a computer system or network meant to block out unauthorized intrusions or access into the whole system. Firewalls can be either hardware based or software based but both types are meant to do the same thing. Many system administrators will use a combination of both hardware and software based firewalls to enhance security.

The most common place to find firewalls are for Internet communications to and from home PC’s and an Internet service provider (ISP). Firewalls are setup by the ISP on their end and a completely separate and localized firewall can be setup on the home PC of an end user.

Firewalls work by examining the data packets that are being exchanged and comparing them to parameters that are set by the firewall. If data doesn’t meet the criteria then it is not accepted by the system security protected by the firewall.

Glossary Definition by WebHostingGPS.com