Do you need VPN capabilities?
If you're implementing site-to-site encryption, get a firewall with built-in VPN capabilities. Be sure to select one that also supports a secure remote access VPN client.
And be sure the VPN supports IPSec, the most popular standard in VPN encryption protocols, since more add-on auxiliary security services and products interoperate with IPSec than any other security protocol.
What Can't a Firewall Do?
Firewalls can't protect your network from everything. Nor are they always 100 percent effective. Firewalls only protect against information flowing across your network. So they can't protect you from attacks that may occur through dial-up lines.
Finally, your firewall can't protect you against someone who's really determined to get past it.. Firewalls will protect your network against 99.9 percent of the troublemakers out there. But, as with most man-made security measures, there are always ways to bypass firewalls.
These methods include rogue programs, Trojan horse, IP Tunnelling, and exploiting holes found in buggy software. If you want to be 100 percent secure from outside attack, all you can do is pull the plug.
The December issue of ZDNet Australia's Technology & Business Magazine contains reviews of firewall products, including Editor's Choice Awards for the best products. For subscription information, visit Technology & Business.
