Looking to upgrade your cybersecurity protection? Cybercrime is on the rise and a major issue that affects all businesses and individual users. One of the best products to use that will help to protect your computer and network from malicious attacks is a firewall, which will act as a barrier and prevent unauthorized access to your network. Not all firewalls are created equal, though, and it is important that you find one that will provide robust protection. Keep reading to discover a few of the best features of a top-quality firewall to look out for when in the market for a firewall.
1. Web Filtering
Web filtering is one of the most important features to look for when choosing a new firewall. Web filtering can prevent users from gaining access to web content that could be dangerous or threatening, but it can also be used to stop people using the computer from accessing certain kinds of content. Parents may want to use web filtering to stop their kids from finding inappropriate online material while a business owner may want to block social media or gambling websites.
2. Bandwidth Control
Unlimited bandwidth is not always available, which means that you want to be able to control the bandwidth that you have so that you have enough to use the internet as you need to. Bandwidth control is a key feature for a firewall that ensures that you can control how much bandwidth is available to different individual users, teams or for certain types of content.
3. Sandboxing
These days, downloading any kind of file from the internet is risky even if it comes from a reliable source. Sandboxing is a useful firewall feature that can protect users and their devices when downloading a file by opening and scanning it in a completely isolated test environment. If the file is deemed safe, it will be passed onto the end-user but if it displays malicious behavior then it can be blocked and no damage will have been inflicted.
4. VPNs
Many firewalls will also come with a VPN, which is particularly handy for those that work remotely or connect to public Wi-Fi regularly. Essentially, a VPN creates a private, shielded connection that will safeguard your data from outsiders. This can increase both security and privacy while making remote work much easier.
5. Logging
You also want to be able to see what your firewall is monitoring, and this is possible with a logging feature, for example, the kind available on a Watchguard UTM firewall. Logging provides you with up-to-date information about what is happening on your network and the kind of attacks that are being blocked. This is useful as it allows you to see if your firewall is performing well, if there is malicious activity and if there are repeated login attempts from an IP address so that you can block all connections.
These are a few of the key features that you need to look out for when in the market for a firewall. A firewall is one of the best layers of defense against outside threats, but they are not all made the same and you want to have one that will offer strong protection.
