Firewall Control
Firewall control is the system whereby private or company networks are protected against outside attacks and attempts to penetrate the network. These attempts normally originate from attackers that make use of public networks such as the Internet to intrude private networks. Hacking, spoofing, DoS/DDoS, malware, spyware, cookies, trojans, spam and worms are all methods for gaining access to computers which are connected to the Internet.
Through adequate firewall control these intrusions are blocked. Identity theft, corruption of data, denial of service, domain hacking and theft of confidential data are all risks associated with Internet connection.
Wireless Dimensions as one of the most reputed Internet Service Providers and suppliers of innovative solutions to protect company networks in South Africa, has developed WDGuard, a Linux security solution to help companies win the war against external threats. In addition the solution also prevents misuse of company resources and time by its employees.
Through a high level of firewall control, administrators of networks can set specific rules to enhance the network security. Protection can be provided through:
- Packet filtering
- IP encapsulation when making use of the VPN solution
- Stateful packet inspection
- URL blocking
- Multimedia file blocking
- Cookies, java applets and Active X blocking
- Internet time scheduling
- Access restriction to emails only
- Spam filtering
- Content filtering and management
- Intrusion detection with alerts, quarantine and deleting functions
- Logging of sites visited and bandwidth used
- Selective Internet access
- Dynamic DNS
- DHCP server
- Advanced proxy server settings
More often than not, the sites visited by employees, compromise the security of a company’s network. Gambling, gaming, porn, music download, dating and chat room sites contain cookies which are downloaded to the user’s computer. Some of these cookies log the keystrokes and open the way for bots to locate the IP address and thus start their attacks through viruses, spyware, malware and spoofing. By blocking these sites, the risk of intrusion is reduced. In addition it also holds the benefit of an increase in productivity since the employees only have access to work related sites.
Privileges can be set to allow users with specific job descriptions and a record of productivity access to the Internet with fewer restrictions, while those workers who tend to play games or chat on the Internet can be limited until specific tasks have been completed.
Since spam is a tremendous problem, companies need to set firewall control to filter emails. The Linux server placed at client sites can act as a filter. All incoming mail is inspected and those with compromising content and junk are blocked before download. This saves bandwidth and protects the network at the same time. The user receives a message once daily with a list of blocked mail. The mail can be reviewed and those still relevant selected to be removed from the block list.
Many more firewall control features are offered by the WDGuard solution. Wireless Dimensions as a company dedicated to client service and the development of tailor made solutions invites clients to discuss their specific requirements. Customisable security solutions can be developed to fit your network requirements.
