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History of Firewalls. By: Colby Shifflett Dr. Grossman Computer Science 420 12/01/2009. The Need for Firewalls. Before the use of firewalls, networks were extremely vulnerable to intrusions and data leaking. Extremely weak security No virus security
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History of Firewalls By: Colby Shifflett Dr. Grossman Computer Science 420 12/01/2009
The Need for Firewalls • Before the use of firewalls, networks were extremely vulnerable to intrusions and data leaking. • Extremely weak security • No virus security • The first firewall was introduced in 1985 by the IOS software division - Cisco • The first published papers on firewalls was not until 3 years after its first deployment by Digital Equipment Company
What is a firewall? • A firewall is a system or set of systems that are used to control access • Designed to block all unauthorized communication and accept all authorized. • According to Cheswick and Bellovin, AT&T Bell Labs firewall engineers, a firewall should be used as a network chokepoint. (Late 1980’s)
First Generation Firewalls • First Generation Firewalls are also known as packet filtering firewalls • Packet filtering routers were key in making the first firewalls • Very simple filtering device • Have a set of rules for the firewall • Ip, port, or protocol based • Based on set of rules, accept or reject communication request • Uses packet header
First Generation Firewalls continued… • Network packet filtering offered more security than ever before for networks • Was very straight forward to understand, implement, and manage • Greatly helped popularity in commerce business • Evolved extremely quickly after first working model demonstrated its capabilities
Second Generation Firewalls • Second Generation Firewalls are also known as Circuit Level Firewalls • Validates connections prior to allowing data exchange • After validation, a session is open and only data from source is permitted access • Every exchange of information is validated and monitored • Source/Destination Ip or port, time of day, user, password, or protocol are validation methods • No data is accepted unless a session is open
Third Generation of Firewalls • Third Generation Firewalls are also known as Application Layer Firewalls or Proxy Firewalls • Operate at the 7th or Application layer of the OSI model • Monitors the protocol that is being used • Have the ability to run as a piece of software or a standalone device • Software firewalls are still very commonly used today • McAfee • Norton • DEC’s first release was named SEAL and grew quickly in popularity
Fourth Generation Firewalls • Fourth Generation Firewalls are also known as stateful firewalls • Most important upgrade from First Generation Firewalls is the ability to keep track of the TCP connection state • Greatly prevents hackers access • Firewalls are able to determine if packets are a part of a new connection or existing connection • Relies on a three way handshake with TCP
Any Questions? Thanks for listening!