Solution

Software firewalls

• Software firewalls include any type of firewall that is installed on a local device rather than a separate piece of hardware.

• The big benefit of a software firewall is that it's highly useful for creating defense in depth by isolating individual network endpoints from one another.

• However, maintaining individual software firewalls on different devices can be difficult and time-consuming.

• Furthermore, not every device on a network may be compatible with a single software firewall, which may mean having to use several different software firewalls to cover every asset.

Hardware Firewalls

• Hardware firewalls use a physical appliance that acts in a manner similar to a traffic router to intercept data packets and traffic requests before they're connected to the network's servers.

• Physical appliance-based firewalls like this excel at perimeter security by making sure malicious traffic from outside the network is stopped before the company's network endpoints are exposed to risk.

• The actual capabilities of a hardware firewall may vary depending on the manufacturer some may have a more limited capacity to handle simultaneous connections than others.