assignment 4
CIS 604 Organizational Management and Information Systems
Instructor: Patrick Olson

Introduction
In the world we live in today no organization can be secure from having information taken from outside parties without an efficient firewall. In this paper I want to talk about the different types of firewalls and various aspects of each type. Firewalls have become a fixture for security systems and the first line of defense against hackers from within and outside the network. There are different types that fit each organization goals better depending on cost, type of information they access, and technical support. The firewall is just one aspect of the overall security strategy for an organization or company.

Types of Firewalls
A firewall is hardware or software that prevents unauthorized access to or from a network. They can be implemented in either hardware or software, usually a combination of both for networks that access sensitive information. Firewalls are commonly used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet. All data entering or leaving the Intranet pass through the firewall. The firewall examines each packet of information sent and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria. Every company or organization has set a specific criteria to weed out invaders. This can be hard to decipher without a combination of different tactics to make intruders standout. There are three basics types of firewalls and a hybrids. The first and most standard firewall is a network layer firewall. Network layer firewalls generally make their decisions based on the source address or destination. A basic router is the traditional network layer firewall, since it is not able to make complicated decisions about which packets are actually making request or the actual source. Network layer firewalls can also be known as a packet filter. Which is just the kind of firewall protect standard with the type of programs that are preinstalled on to your computer when you purchased it.
The next type is an application layer firewall .I would consider the application layer a much more intelligent firewall. This firewall can control input and output and make decision on if the request is harmful. Michael Cobb wrote an article on application firewalls and said “Compared with traditional firewalls, application layer filtering devices will provide better content filtering capabilities. They have the ability to examine the payload of a packet and make decisions based on content.” (Cobb. M)
The most secure type of firewall is a proxy firewall, the network uses a proxy to be the in between the network and the request. These firewalls don't actually allow any packets to directly pass between an application and the user. Instead all traffic is intercepted and passed through a proxy connection. The proxy server might slow down your network and applications but add an extra level of protection which is necessary if you have access to vital information. In my humble opinion I can see the benefit to a proxy server and think I will make some changes to my own home firewall situation. The basic software that comes preinstalled with major marketing is really not any protection at all.
There are many things that have to be considered when choosing a firewall and security strategy for your company or organization. First you must have a team of decision makers who can design a security strategy and perform a risk assessment of your organization. Considering the functionality of the firewall should be the most important aspect. The best part for those deciding between products produced for the mainstream use is that firewalls all have the same core functions. Each performs an inspection packet filtering and provides defenses against malicious traffic. The implementation of a firewall can be just as important as the type of firewall you choose. One type of