Where does a proxy firewall filters at?

By Kathir | January 5, 2023

In today’s digital age, protecting your network from potential threats and unauthorized access is more important than ever. One tool that can help to achieve this is a proxy firewall.

Where does a proxy firewall filter at? A proxy firewall filters at the Application Layer to protect network resources by filtering messages.

But what exactly is a proxy firewall and where does it filter traffic? We will discuss this step by step in this article, let us get started!

What is Proxy Firewall?

A proxy firewall is a network security system that sits between your network and the internet, acting as a middle person for incoming and outgoing traffic. It is intended to protect your network from potential threats and unauthorized access by examining and filtering incoming and outgoing traffic based on predetermined security rules.

Prime Function of Proxy Firewall:

The key functions of a proxy firewall are to filter traffic at the application level. This means that it looks at and controls access to specific applications or services, rather than simply blocking or allowing all traffic based on the source or destination address. This provides a higher level of security and controls over your network, as it allows you to specify which applications or services are allowed or blocked.

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Application layer filtering:

Nowadays hackers or attackers are using the most advanced and modern codes to launch attacks directly on the application than using the old and traditional methods like scanning the vulnerable ports on network firewalls. Filtering the packets on the firewall alone cannot provide you Security against the application layer attacks. As the packet messages are not getting into for the full analyses, thus it leads to the failure of the application layer defense mechanism.

Using the Application layer firewalls helps you to look deep into the packets that are with the incoming and outgoing traffic. And, predominantly look for the incongruity, fallacious or malicious commands that are harmful to your servers.

Application layer firewall is the most secure layer of filtering technologies in the concern of security experts. The reason is that it uses various criteria for filtering than any other layers or methods. In some cases, attackers may inject a malicious code that uses the port address of authorized applications, such as port 53 which is the DNS address, at that time a packet layer filter will not able to find that the packet is not valid and it allows to the firewall to pass through. An application filter can examine the contents of the packets and determine which has not been allowed.

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Nowadays the firewalls come with the application layer proxy packages. Application layer filtering offers you a high level of Security from potential threats caused by attackers or hackers.

The main drawback of using an application layer proxy is that needs more processing power and it certainly leads to slower performance, you can also go for high processing and a powerful firewall, and it’s quite costly.

As there is no loss in spending for the security other than else!

Network level Filtering:

In addition to filtering traffic at the application level, a proxy firewall can also filter traffic at the network level. This involves examining and controlling access to specific network resources or services, such as file servers or email servers. The proxy firewall can be configured to allow or block access to these resources based on the security rules that have been set up.

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Why use Proxy Firewall?

The important aspect of a proxy firewall is its ability to provide anonymity for users on the network. By acting as a mediator for incoming and outgoing traffic, the proxy firewall can obscure the identity of users on the network, making it more difficult for potential attackers to target specific individuals or devices.

A proxy firewall filters traffic at both the application and network levels, providing a higher level of security and control over your network. It allows you to specify which applications, services, and resources are allowed or blocked, and it also provides anonymity for users on the network. Overall, a proxy firewall is a valuable tool for protecting your network and its users from potential threats and unauthorized access.