Keeping your network safe begins with protecting it at the gateway, or the point of entry into your network. Having a strong and proper gateway security inplace will help ensure that few attackers will get into your network as possible.
Implementing a well proper and defensive gateway security is critical and extremely complex. Tools that you can implement at the gateway are content filter, intrusion protection and prevention, firewall and virtual private network (VPN), antivirus, and antispam progams against Denial of Service (DOS) attack.
The most common of these tools is the firewall. The firewall could be hardware or software that sits between a private network and public network. A visual picture of a firewall could easily resemble a traffic cop. A firewall’s purpose is to allow traffic to and from the internet to the private side. Firewall essentially prevents network attacks by blocking out traffic that are not authorized to enter. Firewall makes decision based on set of rules. Rules can be as varied as any other decision-making system. Some older firewalls have preconfigured, unchanging rules that block common attacks. However, most firewalls today start with a common set of rules that will allow adminstrators to further configure and their networks.
When firewalls are properly implemented, they can be very useful in being the first line of defense against any attack. A properly configured firewall can thwart the majority of attackers before they have a chance to attack any other part of the network. It is worth any network administrator time to sit down and plan out how he/she needs to implement a firewall into his network. Implementing a firewall device is the preferred gateway security for first line of defense.