Get the Most from Firewall Power

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Imagine that your house is surrounded by a huge metal fortress. It has one door, at which a gatekeeper stands and intercepts visitors. He asks them where they're from and then decides whether to let them in based on your criteria. Furthermore, the gatekeeper permits people to leave your house only if they are headed to preapproved destinations. A firewall performs comparable tasks to guard your computer network.

Firewalls are programs that act as gatekeepers between your computer and the world. Different types offer different levels of security. Bluestone Consulting, in Mount Laurel, N.J., relies on a firewall not only for security and protection, but also for the detailed reports it generates. Steve Haas, manager of information systems at the software company, checks hourly reports that track such "suspicious" activity as repeated attempts to log in with bad passwords. He reads daily reports of all traffic that flows over the $16-million company's modem line.

"It's worth it to buy a separate machine just for the firewall software," says Haas. Allocating processing power from another machine on the network could slow things down because everything that the company sends or receives through a modem goes through the firewall first.

Remember that firewalls vary in ease of implementation and maintenance, with the most secure requiring the most work. Prices range from $3,000 to $100,000, so it's important to do a little homework. You don't want to buy a firewall that does more than your company needs.

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