One of the best steps you can take to secure your home or business network is to beef up your firewalls.

A firewall is a type of software or firmware that offers an additional layer of protection to your network against potential outside attackers, preventing unauthorized access. It monitors and inspects all incoming and outgoing traffic, and can be configured to your specifications to block potential threats. Without a data firewall in Alexandria, VA, you would likely have many more issues with your network security that could quickly become problematic.

Here’s an overview of why you should use firewalls to protect your network:

  • Preventing unwanted system access: This is the biggest reason to use a firewall—it will protect you against any unauthorized access from remote locations. Hackers who are able to take over your network remotely will be able to cause a lot of damage to your systems, or at the very least steal a lot of your data. So long as you have correctly configured your firewall, you will be able to disable remote desktop access to prevent hackers from getting at your computer.
  • Securing old PCs: If, for any reason, you’re still using old PCs or other devices that are running on old, unsupported systems like Windows 7 or Windows XP, you’ll need plenty of firewall protection to guard against outside attacks. Because these operating systems are no longer supported, it means their security features are outdated. But firewalls will only give you so much protection—for many reasons, it’s important to upgrade your operating system if you’re using an outdated one.
  • Blocking content: If you want to take greater control over the content you’ll allow to be accessed on your network (ideal for business networks, school networks or home networks where you have children browsing the internet), then you can use firewalls to block any unsuitable content. This is similar to the kind of content filtering you’d find in parental control applications.
  • Safer online gaming: If you intend to play any games online, you can use protected network firewalls in Alexandria, VA to guard against malware that was developed specifically to target gamers on unsecured or compromised servers. Generally speaking, your firewalls will configure themselves based on the game’s requirements during installation and setup.

While there are plenty of ways in which a firewall can be beneficial for your network security, it’s also important to note that a firewall will not offer you full, complete protection against malware. Firewalls are not able to tackle certain types of viruses, keyloggers and other malware. It’s in your best interest to use firewalls as just one tool in your network protection arsenal, along with antivirus tools.

We understand that network security can be a complicated topic for the average person to digest, so if you have any questions about how to set up a data firewall or the benefits of a protected network firewall in Alexandria, VA, we encourage you to contact Walsh Electric today. We’d be happy to provide you with further information.