Posted on November 23rd, 2011 
A firewall is essential for a system’s security. Until a firewall is working on a system, we do not notice the important functions it is performing behind the screen of our system, but if our computer fails to have a sufficient firewall and experience an unavoidable attack, we realize firewall’s importance. Firewall saves our computer or server from a number of hacking attacks, but it has its own drawbacks. Essential thing is to know when to trust on firewall and when to consider other security measures.
Hackers always look for susceptible gates to enter in system. These gates are unsecured network ports and more open gates means server is more vulnerable to attacks. High-quality firewalls also contain other network security characteristics which help against DoS assaults and several other threats.
Opening of few server gates such as web server (port 80) and an SSH server (port 22) is essential for most servers. And in such cases, a firewall has very little authority to prevent hackers from exploiting other weak points. Hence, if your website has weak password, old fashioned web apps and poorly written script, nothing could save it from vulnerabilities not even the sever hosting your site has firewall.
A data center normally has firewalls enabled on its network routers and these routers defend the server from external attacks. However, it is good that server installs firewall software itself; an excellent server administrator also installs an application firewall to find hacking methods which search out server side script susceptibilities. Along with all these safety measures, you can solidify your system’s security on each distinct website and could prevent even expert hackers from entering into your system and doing extensive harm to it.
Firewall installation is the first defense to fight against online attacks. You anticipate that firewall will provide safety against most attacks but it is not enough to resist every attack and for surviving through hacking attacks, you need more defenses and specific safety measures to ensure data security.