firewall

firewall, type of system used to monitor connections between computer networks. One of the earliest responses to malicious activity perpetrated through the Internet, firewalls became a standard part of corporate, governmental, and personal networks.

At its most basic, a firewall either permits or blocks a requested network connection—such as a website, an e-mail, or a file transfer—based on a set of policies determined by a network administrator or personal user. It is used to protect internal networks and private or sensitive data. A firewall also logs information about network traffic, which can help an administrator understand and prevent attacks.

Typically, a firewall allows no direct connection between the internal network and the Internet. Instead, external connection requests, or digital packets, may be routed to a heavily secured “bastion host” server designed to withstand attack or to a larger “demilitarized zone,” a controlled network between the internal network and the outside. The firewall then evaluates the packet based on programmed security policies and decides whether to permit or deny access. A firewall can regulate access going either to or from the internal network; for instance, some companies use a firewall to block employee access to certain public websites.

The first firewalls were developed in the 1980s at the American technology companies Cisco Systems and Digital Equipment Corporation. These “network layer” firewalls judged packets based on simple information such as their apparent source, destination, and connection type. Although fast and transparent, these systems were fairly easily foiled. In the early 1990s a new generation of “application layer” firewalls emerged; though more cumbersome to set up and operate, they performed a more thorough inspection. In the early 21st century, most firewalls were hybrids of these two primary types.