ASSOSA UNIVERSTIY

COLLEGE OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
SECTION ONE
COURSE TITTLE: COMPUTER SECURITY

Prepared By: Group 6

Submitted To: Instructor Azeze K.

Assosa, Ethiopia
INTRODUCTION TO NETWORK SECURITY

• Network security is a critical aspect of maintaining the integrity,

confidentiality, and availability of data and resources in a networked
environment.
• It involves implementing various measures to protect against
unauthorized access, data breaches, and other cyber threats.
• Firewalls contribute significantly to defending against malware
threats.
• It play a pivotal role in network security by serving as a barrier
between internal and external networks, controlling the flow of traffic
and enforcing security policies.
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BASICS OF FIREWALLS
• Its main function is to control the entery of external but still allow
normal communication.
There are two primary categories of firewalls:
hardware firewalls, which are physical devices perimeter.
software firewalls, which are software devices perimeter
Firewall play an important role in protecting overall system integrity
against malicious attacks.

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FIREWALL AND ITS PRIMARY
PURPOSE
A firewall is a system that provides network security by filtering
incoming and outgoing network traffic based on a set of user-defined
rules.
Firewalls is prevents unauthorized users, devices, and applications
from entering a protected network environment or segment.
How Does a Firewall Work?
Firewalls work by inspecting packets of data and checking them for
threats to enhance network security.

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HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
FIREWALLS

A hardware firewall is a physical device that uses the source and

destination addresses port numbers, as well as protocols in order to
filter traffic.
Software firewall means that it runs on a dedicated PC or server, thus
enabling itself of packet contents such as headers, payloads, and
signatures.

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Types of Firewalls

Types of firewalls are present based varying criteria are software

firewall, hardware firewall and Cloud firewall.

Some of the main types that depending on how they function and
their deployment models are Packet filtering firewall, Stateful
inspection firewall, Circuit-level gateway and Application-level
gateway.

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THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF
FIREWALL
Firewall has several strengths, such as enforcing security policies,
restricting access to services, providing security without
compromising usability, monitoring network activity, and alerting
about events.
However, it also has some weaknesses, such as being vulnerable to
internal attacks, being unable to block traffic that does not pass
through it, being dependent on the quality of security policies and
administration, and being unable to protect against malicious content
that is allowed by the rules.

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THE APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT
FIREWALL TYPES
The different types of firewalls that can be used to protect networks, devices,
and web applications from various threats.
The main types of firewalls are:
Network firewalls: They monitor and control the network traffic based on
predefined rules. They can be static, stateful, or next-generation, depending on
the level of sophistication and analysis they perform.
Host-based firewalls: They monitor and control the traffic from a specific
device, regardless of the network it is connected to.
Web application firewalls: They protect web applications from web-based
attacks by inspecting and filtering the requests and responses.

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FIREWALL CONFIGURATION AND
RULES
It describes the different types of firewall rules, such as packet-
filtering, stateful inspection, and proxy filters, and how they affect the
traffic flow.

It also lists some best practices for creating and maintaining firewall
rules, such as documenting, monitoring, grouping, and reviewing
them.

Finally, it outlines the steps for configuring a firewall, such as

securing it, establishing zones and IP addresses, setting up ACLs, and
testing it.
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Common challenges faced in firewall implementation

• Rule Complexity:
Challenge: Managing a large number of complex rules can lead to oversight
and misconfigurations.
Solution: Regularly review and optimize rules, implementing a structured
naming convention and documentation for better clarity.
User Authentication:
Challenge: Ensuring that only authorized users access specific resources.
Solution: Integrate firewall rules with user authentication systems such as
LDAP or Active Directory for user-specific access controls

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MAINTAINING AN EFFECTIVE FIREWALL
STRATEGY OVER TIME
To keep a firewall strategy effective, it is important to:
Audit firewall rules and policies regularly to find and fix any issues.
Update firewall rules and policies to cope with new threats.
Log and monitor network activity to detect and respond to suspicious
behavior.
Train IT staff and end-users on firewall security, best practices, and
potential threats.

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