Most business owners and managers are familiar with the term ‘firewall’, but they may have a limited understanding of the term.  Firewall protection comes in two major categories: software and hardware.  Most computer users, whether they depend on their system for personal or business use, are only familiar with the first category of firewall protection.

According to John Curran, who serves the American Registry for Internet Numbers as its CEO, Internet Protocol version 6 is designed to offer more safety and security features than the current paradigm of IPv4.  In part, this is because IPv6 was designed from the start with security needs in mind.  This does not mean, however, that IPv6 will present small and medium-sized businesses with no challenges to overcome. 

A firewall is one of the most important computer security components that any business can adopt.  The term ‘firewall’ itself, however, is not always clearly understood.

According to the 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report compiled by Verizon, security breaches linked to hactivist organizations such as Anonymous are increasing at a dramatic rate. There is good news in the report, however: Most intrusions rely on modes of attack that can be defeated with some simple measures well within the reach of even the smallest business. This is true no matter if the attack is launched in order to secure some financial gain, through the theft of credit card information, for example, or if it is intended instead to send a political or social message about the company's stance on a controversial issue.

Many business organizations have heard of the concept of a ‘next generation firewall,’ but what does the term actually mean? A next generation firewall is more than a traditional firewall system with better filters.  Instead, it takes a fundamentally different approach to network security.  Firewalls originally classified data traffic according to IP address or port access number.  Based on these criteria, the firewall would decide whether to allow traffic from outside to enter the network.

Most computer users these days understand the concept of a firewall as a program that stands between the protected system or systems and the outside world. It controls both what data can get into a network and what software applications can reach out to connect to data on the outside.  Today’s enhanced firewalls are actually a great deal more sophisticated than early models of such a system and are more properly referred to as UTMs, unified threat management systems.  These kinds of firewalls are referred to as belonging to the next generation of network security.

SonicWALL has long been a leading innovator in the field of data protection via firewalls.  That legacy of innovation has jumped forward again with the release of two new program series designed to assist small and medium-sized businesses as well as branch office operations of larger companies.  Both the NSA 220 Series and the NSA 250M Series are considered "next generation firewalls" for their ability to be deployed on a highly flexible basis that still maintains intrusion prevention that his tightly integrated at the application level.

When it comes to providing data security solutions and protecting networks from malware and other invidious attacks, SonicWALL is an industry leader.  This was demonstrated again this week when the organizers of the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship chose SonicWALL to provide secure Wi-Fi access during the event.  Athletes, event staff, and hundreds of journalists will use the service, which will be managed through SonicWALL's Global Management System.