Is a firewall enough

In today's day and age of spyware, malware, viruses, and more, a firewall may not be the only protection your network needs. Most firewall rules are based on the IP address and network port but they don’t inspect the actual network traffic content. However, your employees are visiting hundreds of websites today, all potentially capable of infecting your network with the latest spyware or virus.

You know you can protect your employees and your network if you block access to these sites, however, you also know that this traffic may be legitimate business usage. In addition, the uninvited email from some unknown "Friend" in Taiwan may also prove to be an issue when an employee decides to click on the link to correct some :issue: with their bank account. It becomes more difficult everyday to block these sites, and it is even more cumbersome to add access via a whitelist only configuration.

So, how do you handle this situation? How can you increase security and allow your employees access to the information they need while not creating an administrative headache? One suggestion is to implement a content-aware firewall. This type of firewall works in the same way as the firewalls that most people are used to, but, it also has some advanced features. Some such features include:

• Stateful Inspection technology that identifies every incoming packet. By recognizing the source and contents of each packet, you can guard against unwanted intrusions or external attacks.
• Mail Security System: Watches any mail server or client via transparent proxies providing antivirus and antispam capabilities.
• Web Security: A Firewall content filter that keeps web surfing safe for your users, and guards them against viruses and unwanted content such as violence, pornography or illegal software.

For more about Security Solutions for today's Internet, please contact us at (800) 750-4880.