Advantages and Disadvantages of Firewalls – A firewall is an important feature on a computer, especially on a computer that often uses computer network technology . Technically, a firewall can be analogous to a house fence. The house is a computer, and the outside of the house is a network.
So what are the functions of a firewall on a computer network ? The firewall’s job is to keep no foreign objects or content, especially dangerous content, such as malware, from entering the user’s computer.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Firewalls
Mostly, the firewall that is used is the default firewall of an operating system , or is a firewall which is an additional feature of an antivirus. Firewall itself, has many advantages, but also has some disadvantages. The following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of a firewall.
Advantages of Firewalls
- Detects the presence of malware or threats from a site
The first advantage of using a firewall on our computers is being able to detect malware and dangerous threats from the various sites we visit. Imagine, if the firewall is not activated, then all content, which may contain malware that has the potential to damage our computers, will enter easily.
Thus, we as users will also feel about a safe and comfortable internet experience, without worrying about harmful malware interference. But not only from sites that are accessed, but from software that has been installed on the computer. Therefore users must be careful with the dangers of using pirated software that is less secure.
With a firewall, every site, which may have malware, or which has been detected as a threat, the user will be warned of the danger, and the site will automatically be detected by our computer’s firewall system.
- Keep the user from being redirected to dangerous sites
In addition to giving warnings about the possibility of malware on sites that users will visit, firewalls are also able to protect and prevent users from entering sites that are considered dangerous.
For example, when we open a social networking site, Facebook for example, there are usually lots of links from sites that are less trusted to share on Facebook. Even though there are many benefits of Facebook that users feel, they need to be careful about this one.
Without a firewall, of course, we will be free to click on these sites. However, who knows what is in the site. Therefore, a firewall is very good at helping users not to carelessly click on a link, and prevent users from entering sites that are considered dangerous.
- Block certain sites
Firewalls also have the advantage of blocking certain sites, and the IP address of a site. That way, when we have blocked a site and also the IP address, we will not be able to open the site.
This facility is of course much more advanced when compared to the site block feature offered by conventional browsers, such as Mozilla and Chrome. That way, we don’t have to worry about links that will interfere with our surfing comfort. In this case, the user needs to choose the best browser for smooth, secure internet access.
- Warns the user when downloading anything from an unsafe site
Apart from helping to prevent and also blocking several sites, another advantage of a firewall system is that the firewall system on this computer is also able to warn users when downloading content.
Some of the downloaded content sometimes contains inappropriate material, and could be malware. Therefore, with a firewall, before downloading the user will be given a warning regarding the content to be downloaded, which will cause the user to be more aware or wary of the content to be downloaded.
- Prevent piracy of user computers through computer networks
Currently, hacking and piracy of a computer that is carried out through computer networks is very widespread, both on a small scale and on a large scale. Mostly, this hacking crime is carried out because the targeted computer has weak firewall security.
Therefore, it is very important to have a firewall activated. With a firewall, the user’s computer will be protected and at least it can be more secure from piracy or hacking and hacking through computer networks.
- Very useful when the user makes a network connection in a public place
Public places that provide network facilities are now widespread. These facilities, such as public wifi, for example, are of course very useful for the internet needs of each user. However, it turns out that the potential for hacking through public computer networks, such as public wifi, is very high. Therefore, a firewall is needed to maintain security.
And fortunately, the firewall has the right advantages for those of you who often use public wifi, to secure your computer from hacking through public networks.
Lack of Firewalls
- It is not an antivirus, so it is not suitable for preventing viruses from entering
Many often equate a firewall with anti-virus. Indeed, some antiviruses have additional features in the form of a firewall. However, a firewall itself is basically not an antivirus. Maybe a firewall is useful for preventing malware and some other dangerous internet content.
However, when the content has been downloaded and it turns out to be a virus, the firewall can’t do anything about it. The firewall’s job is only as a fence that keeps the computer from experiencing interference due to computer networks. Because it’s a big mistake to only rely on a firewall as an anti-virus.
- Firewalls cannot help prevent data theft or hacking from within
Data theft or hacking that occurs internally, or from within cannot be prevented by a firewall. This happens when hacking and data theft are carried out by those who know the password and security key of the computer. Keep in mind, the firewall will only act when it detects suspicious content trying to infiltrate the computer via the internet network.
So, basically, a firewall will be useless if the infiltration and data theft originates from an internal condition, where the intruder has access rights to the computer whose data is to be stolen or hacked.
- Not all malware can be detected properly
Although effective in fighting malware, it turns out that firewalls are not superior. The development of computer technology, especially the development of viruses and malware, has made malware more sophisticated, and firewalls cannot resist it.
There are lots of new, more sinister types of malware that are difficult, if not impossible, for firewalls to detect. This also causes many server computers to experience hacking and data theft.