Shared Protection

In the computer world, there are a lot of analogies from the real world. One such analogy is the term firewall. In building construction, firewalls are nonflammable walls such as bricks that divide portions of the building and shielding it in case of fire. Firewalls prevent the spread of fire. In computer terminology, on the other hand, firewalls are either hardware or software that filters packets of data from entering computer networks. A firewall acts like a guard that prevents intrusions and tampering. Computer files and programs are thus protected from destruction. There are free firewall software available for download but some may need special configuring and fine tuning to suit the security policy of specific networks.