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Does My Small Business Need a Firewall?

Written by Udayakumar | Aug 9, 2022 1:30:00 AM

Cybercrime is a growing issue that could strike at any time and according to experts, it is believed to be the world's greatest threat to businesses. As a result, using the most secured and secure hardware and software solutions is the best strategy for today's small business owners and operators when it involves doing business online.

​CYBERCRIME 

It is believed that cyber-attacks and fraud are solely a concern for huge organisations or significant banks. However, the numbers reflect a far more frightening reality: hackers can and do attack anyone, regardless of their size or sector.

According to a 2019 article, small firms account for more than half of all cyberattack victims - 58 percent to be exact. Furthermore, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, cyberattacks will cost the global business sector RM 24 trillion over the next two years. 

Furthermore, small firms are more likely than large enterprises to be targeted by hackers because they feel they lack the necessary infrastructure, which is all too often the truth. When small businesses are targeted, they may find themselves in the crosshairs of a lawsuit if it is proven that they were irresponsible with their customers' and clients' sensitive information. 

Furthermore, small firms are more likely to be targeted by hackers than large enterprises because they feel they lack the necessary infrastructure, which is all too often the truth. When small businesses are targeted, they may find themselves in the crosshairs of a lawsuit if it is proven that they were irresponsible with their customers' and clients' sensitive information. 

Small businesses doing business online face real and present risks, both to themselves and to their clients. As a result, small business owners need to incorporate hardware firewalls into their digital platforms now more than ever. 

WHAT PURPOSE DOES A FIREWALL SERVE?  

It's as simple as looking at the stats to figure out why you need security. Getting a grasp on how protection works, on the other hand, maybe more difficult for those outside the computer sector. 

But don't worry we'll explain what a hardware firewall is and how it works, as well as what it can do to keep you and your small business safe for years to come. 

To put it simply, firewalls are like a police officer at a DUI checkpoint. Their role is to inspect all traffic entering and exiting a region to ensure that it does not cause any problems. 

That is precisely what a firewall accomplishes. It monitors all traffic entering and exiting your network to ensure that it is safe and not harmful. 

WHERE DO HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE FIREWALLS DIFFER? 

Hardware firewalls, for those with a more technical background, are essentially a router (or other devices) that uses network address translation (NAT) and runs specific protective software. Hardware firewalls are used by both large and small enterprises to prevent cyberattacks on their systems and critical data. 

Yes, software firewalls exist, but they are only deployed on specific computers, one at a time. While these are helpful, they are less robust than hardware firewalls and require individual installation on each device to function. 

Furthermore, unlike Windows 10 (or any other operating system) that is attempting to operate your word processor, internet browser, email, and a thousand other things at the same time, hardware firewalls are totally dedicated to the duty of protecting your data. 

As a result, the finest sort of firewall is hardware, which offers the best answer for any small organization wishing to secure its network traffic. Antivirus software, anti-spyware, intrusion prevention, device control, application control, and network access control are all used to do this. 

Multiple Protection Layers 

Because they do so much more than just allow traffic in and out of your network, modern firewalls are referred to as Unified Threat Management or UTM devices. 

Onions are like network security and firewalls... The more layers there are, the better. 

So, let's look at each layer one by one to see how they contribute to the defense of your small business and the provision of managed services support. 

Antivirus and antispyware software

These may be obvious to you already. Anti-virus software is used by hardware firewalls to detect and defend against dangerous internet viruses. 

Spyware, like viruses, is downloaded via the internet and seeks to "spy" on your network in order to obtain as much information about your company as possible, mainly financial data and records. Firewalls prevent this form of assault.

Defending against intrusion

We'll spend a little more time on this one because of its complexity. Intrusion prevention is defined as follows by one group of security experts: "The IPS conducts real-time packet inspection, thoroughly inspecting each packet that traverses the network." If the IPS detects any malicious or suspicious packets, it will take one of the following actions: 

  • Terminate the compromised TCP session and prevent the offending source IP address or user account from gaining unauthorized access to any application, target hosts, or other network resources. 
  • To prevent a similar assault in the future, reprogrammed or reconfigure the firewall. 
  • After an attack, remove or replace any harmful content that has remained on the network. This is accomplished through the repackaging of payloads, deleting any contaminated attachments from file or email systems, and erasing header information." 

As you can see, intrusion prevention entails a lot of work. Of course, we're here to help if you have any questions regarding this (or any other feature). 

Control of the device

A firewall can safeguard any inbound or outbound traffic, regardless of whether your firm utilizes computers, tablets, or even mobile devices. Because almost everything nowadays is done in the cloud, your files, as well as those of your staff and customers, are safe wherever they go. 

Controlling the application 

What applies to devices also applies to specific applications used by your small business. Internal applications (those used just by you and your team) should be held to higher standards than public-facing websites, which are readily distributed by a hardware firewall. What is the reason for this? Even if you thoroughly examine your staff, there's always the possibility that one bad apple will try to steal corporate or client data. 

This can happen in both large and small enterprises. And that does happen rather frequently. 

Control of network access 

You may need to use a VPN, or Virtual Private Network, to access your devices remotely with complete security. You have the option to incorporate this as well with hardware firewalls.