How Do Host-Based Firewalls Work?
Organizations rely on consistent network communications to support daily operations.
Cyberattacks, however, often generate traffic that deviates from these normal patterns, creating opportunities to block suspicious activity without disrupting regular business functions.
- Traditional firewalls monitor data packets across groups of devices or network segments
- A host-based firewall focuses on a single device, acting as a reverse proxy that intercepts every incoming and outgoing packet.
This allows administrators to set specific rules based on IP addresses, port numbers, protocols, or applications that dictate which traffic is allowed. Advanced host-based firewalls can even use AI to establish a baseline for normal activity and automatically block any traffic that appears abnormal.
The Pros & Cons of Host-Based Firewalls
Host-based firewalls can be a big investment: this demands a thorough understanding of the pros and cons represented by the solution.
The Pros
Host-based firewalls are software solutions installed on individual devices, offering a focused layer of security by controlling incoming and outgoing traffic at the application level.
- Granular Control: These firewalls provide highly granular control, allowing security teams to create rules for specific applications and processes, which can enhance protection on endpoints.
- User-specific Policy Creation: This approach also enables the creation of user-specific policies, adapting to diverse user needs and applications within the organization.
- Insider Threat Prevention: Additionally, host-based firewalls are effective in guarding against insider threats, as they can monitor and limit internal communications.
The Cons
Host-based firewalls come with a few drawbacks.
- Resource Consumption: They can be resource-intensive, as they rely on the device’s CPU and memory: this can potentially affect performance for older or more fragile systems.
- Tool Complexity: Managing these firewalls across many devices is also complex, as updating and standardizing rules requires significant effort and robust configuration management, particularly in larger environments.
- Narrow Scope: Host-based firewalls inherently have limited scope; unlike network firewalls, they cannot provide protection against broader network-level attacks, focusing only on the host itself. This configuration reliance can increase the risk of misconfiguration.
How to Implement Host-Based Firewalls
Most major operating systems include built-in host-based firewalls, and many enterprise endpoint protection solutions also feature firewall capabilities.
For instance, Windows’ host firewall can be managed through Group Policies, which allow administrators to apply standardized firewall policies across all compatible systems with ease. If your network architecture separates workstation subnets, you can often implement a straightforward firewall policy by simply blocking all traffic to and from these workstation subnets.
With just two basic rules, it’s possible to significantly limit lateral movement within your network.
For organizations completely new to creating firewall rulesets, an effective starting approach is to activate the firewall with an “allow-all” rule, and simply enable logging for all traffic. This setup builds a record of normal host communication over time, providing a foundation to tailor firewall rules based on actual network activity.
Alternatively, if your organization uses NetFlow, a comprehensive traffic record is readily accessible.
Once you’ve gained an idea of your usual traffic patterns, It’s also critical to restrict access to server environments and administrative interfaces. Using physical firewalls to manage internal North-South traffic is ideal, though host-based firewalls can serve as a good alternative when budgets are tight.
Focus your firewall rules on blocking high-risk ports commonly targeted by attackers. For instance, port 445 (SMB) is frequently exploited, yet in most organizations, only a limited number of servers need to communicate with workstations over SMB.
Configuring your firewall to allow SMB access only to these specific hosts and blocking it elsewhere will reduce your organization’s exposure to potential attacks.
Gain Next-Generation Network Control with Check Point Quantum
Check Point Quantum revolutionizes the way your network traffic data is used in firewalls. Rather than relying on your own manual collection, review, and analysis of network logs and rules, Quantum takes historic network data into its central analysis engine and immediately begins applying it to your own devices and private networks.
This is a core feature to any Next-Gen firewall – check out our firewall buyer’s guide for the full list of features that modern enterprises should keep an eye on.
Throwing out the clunky, segmented dashboard, Quantum’s centralized management platform further integrates with your wider network, cloud, and IoT services to show what actions are triggering which policy – it’s here you can produce rulebooks and begin automating your firewall protection.
Retain network visibility even when your users are hybrid and VPN-based, and keep firewall throughput consistently high with Quantum’s hyperscale architecture for scalable performance, allowing it to expand and meet enterprise needs seamlessly.
Explore how Quantum works and schedule a demo.
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