Firewalls and Viruses: Are You Protected?

The short answer: not very. Only anti-virus products and user education will prevent virus outbreaks. Firewalls and intrusion detection products will not filter encrypted e-mails or attachments, so a hacker could send a virus inside an encrypted e-mail and as a result, successfully sneak past the firewall. And most firewalls only protect against viruses coming in from the Internet. If a virus is located in a piece of software or electronic file, it is useless. While some firewalls offer virus scanning, their functionality is limited. Companies concerned about protecting their networks against viruses should, again, ensure that additional layers of security, such as anti-virus software and intrusion detection services, are in place and up to date. In addition, companies need to implement enterprise-wide security awareness training to limit the spread of viruses from user error.

Chris Geffel, CISSP, GIAC, is a security architect for RedSiren. He is responsible for the design, configuration and implementation of RedSiren’s managed service solutions. Prior to RedSiren, he was with Bayer Corporation, where he supported security-focused projects including e-commerce, firewall implementation and management, anti-virus and secure remote access. At RedSiren, he has lead a number of initiatives, including the role as lead architect of RedSiren’s Managed Intrusion Detection System (MIDS) system.

First published on BankersOnline.com 4/01/02