A firewall is a system or group of systems that are configured to protect an organization’s network from unauthorized access and from potentially harmful internal and external traffic. Firewalls can be hardware-based or software-based.

Hardware-based firewalls are devices that are installed in between an organization’s internal network and the public internet. These devices can be routers, switches, and/or dedicated security appliances. They are typically configured to allow certain types of traffic to flow in and out of the organization’s network while blocking all other traffic.

Software-based firewalls are applications that are installed on organizational computers. These applications can be installed …