Security Issues of Firewall

Abstract

The need of Network Security is accelerating at the same pace as that of increased Internet usage. Network Security prevents from illegitimate admittance, hacking andauthentic data transportation. Network Security consist of provisions and policies adopted by a network administrator to preclude and monitor unauthorized access, alterations, perversion, declination of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Network Security is achieved by Firewall. Firewall is a hardware or software device which is designed to permit or refuse network transmissions based upon certain protocols. Firewall is a locus at the endpoints of the system which strains out all illegitimate traffic and users. But conventional or traditional firewalls rely stricly on the restricted topology and restrained entry points to function; which results in difficulty in filtering certain protocols, end-to-end encryption problem etc. Hence, it resulted in the evolution of Distributed Firewall which strengthens the network security policies without delimitating its topology from inside or outside. Distributed Firewall is a host-resident security software application that protects the enterprise network’s servers and end-user machines against unwanted intrusion. This paper is a literature review paper focusing on traditional firewalls, it evolution, security issues various policies and the concept of distributed firewall.