A firewall is the No. 1 method for protecting a small business computer network from hackers, viruses, and malicious software. But whether you use firewall hardware or software depends on your company’s needs and IT experience.
Most wired and wireless network routers include a firewall, which uses packet filtering to scan incoming IP traffic and reviews it using user-created rules to determine if it’s related to an outbound command, such as a request for a website, or if it’s an unwanted intrusion.
Hardware firewalls have a lot going for them. They’re built into a router, so a single firewall can protect an entire network. They don’t run on individual machines, so they won’t affect the performance or speed of individual desktops or laptops connected to the company network, something employees will appreciate.
Other advantages of hardware firewalls: they’re more efficient for broadband Internet connections, they can’t be easily disabled by malicious software, and the cost for protecting multiple computers could ultimately be lower than buying software licenses for each and every one of your office PCs.
Hardware-based firewalls have some drawbacks. They can cost upwards of several hundred dollars and are more difficult for non-techies to configure. They also don’t monitor outgoing traffic, so if a worm infects your network, a firewall won’t try to stop it from connecting to the Internet.
Unlike the hardware variety, software firewalls live on individual PCs and laptops, where they intercept incoming requests to connect to a computer on the network to see if they’re legit or not. Firewall software can also be set up to check suspicious outgoing requests.
The best thing about software firewalls could be the price. Top-rated programs cost less than $50 for enough licenses to cover up to four machines.
Technology challenged? Setting up software firewalls is relatively simple. You can choose different security levels for different computers and do it all with a few mouse clicks during installation. Just remember: the highest security levels will automatically block all cookies and JavaScript, which could stop webpages from downloading completely.
Software firewalls are truly portable protection. Because they reside on a PC or laptop instead of on a company’s network hardware, they go where a computer goes, which means you don’t need additional security when you take your laptop on the road.
For all the benefits, software firewalls have drawbacks. They consume memory and disk space, which slows down a PC’s performance. And keeping an entire network protected means purchasing or renewing licenses for every device the software runs on, an expense that can add up quickly. --Michelle V. Rafter
