A firewall is a system that implements an access control policy and allows you to manage traffic going into and out of your network, server or host. You can filter packets based on different types of traffic, so for example you may want to only allow web traffic to your web-server, or only mail traffic to your mail server. If you have a web-server on the internet, you can block internet users from accessing anything other than the web-site. If you use a mail server, you can set it up so that only employees can send mail through the mail server.
A firewall also performs higher-level intrusion detection functions. For example your firewall can detect if someone tries to 'brute-force' attack your mail-server, and it can then dynamically block the IP address of that user.
A firewall is a kind of gatekeeper that allows you to manage security across your entire network from a single point. Only traffic that you specifically permit is allowed in to the network, and only traffic that you specifically permit is allowed to leave the network. For example you can stop internet users from accessing any machine other than your web-server. Or you can limit your employees internet usage by allowing only traffic destined for certain predefined web-sites.
A firewall works by restricting access to specific services across your network. It allows you to set-up a framework for normal use of your network, and prevent any use of the network outside the allowed framework.
A firewall works by restricting access to specific services across your network. It can't protect you from hackers exploiting the services that you do allow access to. For example, if you allow e-mail and web traffic, a firewall won't stop an intruder from exploiting your web-server, or e-mail service.
Firewalls are good at protecting your network from hackers trying to gain unauthorised access to your systems and data. They are not however designed to prevent individual machines from becoming infected with viruses and malware.
Ipera provide free protection from Spam and Viruses using the open-source software SpamAssasin. SpamAssasin is the leading open-source solution for filtering unwanted e-mail and viruses.
For a small additional charge we can also upgrade you to a commercial package, Sophos AVS, which will virtually eliminate all unsolicited e-mail. We also provide an MS Outlook plug-in that allows you to report Spam E-mail directly to Ipera.
Ipera is an Australian hosting company that has been servicing the market for 10 years
Ipera's virtual infrastructure platform is up to 30 times more energy efficient compared to physical hosting
Ipera has an extensive fibre network in the Newcastle CBD, and can also offer dark fibre in Sydney, Brisbane & Melbourne.
We accept Mastercard, Visa and AMEX
