Firewalls Questions Medium
A stateful inspection firewall is a type of firewall that monitors and filters network traffic based on the state of the connection. It keeps track of the state of each network connection by maintaining a record of the ongoing sessions, including the source and destination IP addresses, port numbers, and sequence numbers.
This type of firewall enhances security by analyzing the context and content of network packets, rather than just inspecting individual packets in isolation. It examines the entire communication session and makes decisions based on the state of the connection, ensuring that only legitimate traffic is allowed through.
By maintaining a state table, the firewall can identify and block suspicious or malicious activities, such as unauthorized access attempts, network scans, or data exfiltration. It can also enforce security policies by allowing or denying traffic based on predefined rules and policies.
Furthermore, a stateful inspection firewall provides protection against various types of attacks, including IP spoofing, session hijacking, and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. It can detect and prevent the creation of unauthorized connections, as well as identify and drop packets that do not belong to any established session.
Overall, the stateful inspection firewall enhances security by providing a higher level of visibility and control over network traffic, allowing organizations to better protect their systems and data from potential threats.