Bruce’s Shorts | 4.10 - Firewalls

You’ve got a firewall and you think that’s enough? When is the last time it was updated? In this series of Bruce’s Shorts, Bruce Devlin looks at computer security.

The word "firewall' doesn't really describe what an IT firewall does. It's more like a hazmat suit (hazardous materials suit) that forms a barrier between your computer or computer network and the outside world.

A simple firewall can monitor incoming traffic for threats. More sophisticated firewalls can learn how a network behaves and report strange behavior. This knowledge can be shared by large groups of users to mutual benefit and to update their firewalls. When did you last update your firewall?

Once a virus is inside the firewall, it isn't going to remove the virus, you need other software for that. 

VPNs may puncture the firewall. It is worthwhile learning how to configure your firewall. It won't solve all your problems, but it will help.

You might also like...

The Big Guide To OTT: Part 10 - Monetization & ROI

Part 10 of The Big Guide To OTT features four articles which tackle the key topic of how to monetize OTT content. The articles discuss addressable advertising, (re)bundling, sports fan engagement and content piracy.

Next-Gen 5G Contribution: Part 2 - MEC & The Disruptive Potential Of 5G

The migration of the core network functionality of 5G to virtualized or cloud-native infrastructure opens up new capabilities like MEC which have the potential to disrupt current approaches to remote production contribution networks.

Standards: Part 8 - Standards For Designing & Building DAM Workflows

This article is all about content/asset management systems and their workflow. Most broadcasters will invest in a proprietary vendor solution. This article is designed to foster a better understanding of how such systems work, and offers some alternate thinking…

Designing IP Broadcast Systems: Addressing & Packet Delivery

How layer-3 and layer-2 addresses work together to deliver data link layer packets and frames across networks to improve efficiency and reduce congestion.

The Business Cost Of Poor Streaming Quality

Poor quality streaming loses viewers at an alarming rate especially when we consider the unintended consequences of poor error reporting on streaming players.