Un cortafuegos o Firewall es un elemento de hardware o software que se utiliza en una red de ordenadores para controlar el acceso interno y externo de dicha red, gestionadolo de acuerdo a unas determinadas políticas de configuración.
How to choose a firewall?
A firewall examines the information that comes from the Internet and that is sent to the Internet. Identify or intercept information from dangerous or suspicious-looking locations.
If the user configures their computer’s firewall correctly, hackers lurking on vulnerable computers will not be able to detect it. There are two basic types of firewall available. The first step is to determine which one best suits your needs. The available options are:
- Software firewall
- Hardware firewall (Router)
Software Firewall
La mayoría de Sistemas Operativos modernos incluyen internamente un software de Firewall, aunque también existen programas gratuitos que realizan las mismas funciones y no por ello dejan de ser una buena opción. Además del Firewall de Windows, el más conocido debido a su sencillez de uso es Zone Alarm, aunque también existen otros como Agnitum Outpost Free, Sygate Personal Firewall o Kerio Personal Firewall.
Hardware Firewall (Router)
Todo aquel que disponga de conexión a internet, reconocerá rápidamente la palabra router, aunque es posible que no sepa lo que significa.
A router (or router) is a hardware device that is used to make connections between computer networks or the Internet. Their main characteristic is that they allow the user to limit the open ports (by default they are all closed), while modems come by default with all of them open.
What is this about a port?
In (very) broad strokes, a similarity could be made between a port and a door. Let’s imagine that we have a cabin (router) with 20 doors (ports) open and we want to prevent a bear (hacker) from entering through any of them. Logically, the bear will have an easier time entering the cabin if it has 20 doors open than if it has only one, so if we close all the doors, the bear will not be able to enter. But, wait, if we close all the doors, we won’t be able to leave the cabin either, so we will have to leave a door open (Open ports emule) even at the risk of the bear (hacker) entering.
The conclusions that can be drawn from this brief simile are that it is only advisable to have the ports that we truly need open on the router to minimize the risk from hackers.
| Sources | [Infospyware | ](https://www.infospyware.com/Firewall/Comparar%20cortafuegos.htm “InfoSpyware”) Microsoft | Wikipedia |
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