
While having a firewall, whether software or hardware, isn’t strictly necessary to staying safe online, it can be incredibly beneficial and downright essential if you're not a careful person. It protects your computer and data from digital attacks coming through physical and digital means as data runs through a separate device that hosts the firewall software. If your firewall is software, it acts as a digital fence that protects you from incoming cyber attacks.Ī hardware firewall does more or less the same thing. Unlike anti-malware software, firewalls can come as software and hardware.

Any data packet that doesn’t meet its pre-set security standards gets blocked, preventing outsiders from gaining access to your device and personal data.

A firewall is a cybersecurity tool that filters data entering your device through an external network.
