Don’t let your files and data leave without your permission.
A firewall defends against unwanted intrusions to your computer. Protect your computer from unauthorized access with Norton Smart Firewall, part of Norton advanced security technology.
As part of advanced online threat protection, a firewall is like a gatekeeper for your computer. You want to keep your personal information in and keep cybercriminals and malware out. The firewall monitors network traffic and enforces rules about access to a computer.
Do firewalls protect against viruses?
A firewall is like a filter or barrier, but something has to inform the firewall of which rules to apply.
What do firewalls protect against?
You connect to the web through networks, and networks can be accessed by others.
What is an Intrusion Prevention System?
An Intrusion Prevention System is technology that looks at network (e.g. Internet) traffic to detect security threats like unwanted access.
A firewall is one part of advanced security technology solutions that work together to block online threats like malware, viruses and intrusions. The Norton security technology stack includes five layers of protection, and each layer works in a different way to protect you from complex online threats:
5 layers of protection to catch malware
Intrusion Prevention Wall
Our Intrusion Prevention System helps protect your browsers and operating systems. If there’s a hole in either one, malicious code might get through.
Norton inspects bytes of traffic coming to your device. Intrusion protection blocks almost 60% of attack attempts.
PC, Mac
Antivirus File Scan
Malware writers frequently recycle pieces of code from previous attacks. Antivirus software scans the files on your device, looking for known snippets of dangerous code.
We immediately add new-found malware code to our global threat intelligence database.
PC, Mac, Android
Reputation Database
Every file you download gets a reputation review.
Files from reputable developers, with a recognizable signature, pass through quickly.
Never-seen-before files raise a flag, and Norton quarantines the potential threat.
PC
Behavior Monitoring
Malware does things that legitimate software won’t, such as access your email contacts or create a communication channel with an IP address in another country.
Norton notices suspicious behavior and stops the action on your device.
PC
Powerful Erase and Repair
Advanced remediation tools such as Power Eraser and Norton Boot and Recovery seek out and destroy deep-rooted malware.
PC
The first layer, the Intrusion Prevention Wall, inspects incoming traffic and blocks many attack attempts before they even reach protected devices. The other layers defend against malware that does get onto a device.
The Norton Smart Firewall and Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) work together at this first level of protection.
A great number of online threats get onto computers through the network connection to the internet, and it’s here that these technologies work together as part of the first line of defense for your devices.
The Smart Firewall, IPS and the other technologies that make up the network-based protection in Norton device security work together to block malicious attacks before they even have a chance to reach your system.
Norton Safe Web feature
In Norton technology, the Smart Firewall and IPS work together to detect malware and intrusions from network traffic. Each has a different job, but they work together toward the same goal of detecting and blocking malware and intrusions at the network level.
You could compare the jobs of the Smart Firewall and IPS in network security to the jobs of different security checks at an airport. The first security check at an airport checks passengers’ identification and tickets, only allowing permitted passengers to pass through. Similarly, the Smart Firewall allows permitted traffic into a network and blocks unpermitted traffic from entering. At the next layer of airport security, security officers and x-ray machines inspect the baggage of authorized passengers who have already passed through the first layer of security. Likewise, the role of IPS in network-based protection is to carefully examine the traffic that the Smart Firewall has allowed to enter in.
Many threats are caught at the network level, and for advanced malware that sneaks past, the other layers of Norton security technology go to work detecting, quarantining and removing threats from your computer. In fact, we’re so confident in our protection, we offer a 100% guarantee: From the moment you subscribe, a Norton expert will help keep your devices virus-free or give you a refund. 2
The Smart Firewall acts like a traffic cop, monitoring incoming and outgoing internet traffic to prevent threats from reaching your computer. Working together, the Smart Firewall and IPS:
As a key component in security software, firewalls protect your devices specifically by doing the following:
Firewalls are one component of protection for your computer. Security software includes several more key technological components that work together to protect your devices in different ways, such as antivirus technology that works to help protect your information at the file level. Just as you would if you want to protect your home with security cameras and motion sensors, strong locks on the doors and windows, and a guard dog who barks stridently whenever someone approaches, security software uses multiple means for protection, including a firewall that protects against unauthorized access, and from the wrong data getting in or out of your computer.
You connect to the web through networks, and networks can be accessed by others. Someone who gains access to your computer through the internet can access your valuable information. Remote access to your computer can mean cybercriminals can access sensitive files or your saved log-in information.
In security software, firewalls help protect against unauthorized access and data going in and out of your computer. They help block your data like passwords, your keystrokes, or files like your tax returns or bank statements from going out the door, so to speak, of your computer. Specific threats that firewalls protect against include:
A firewall protects against these types of intrusions to your computer and works in conjunction with the other layers of security to provide advanced online threat protection.
An Intrusion Prevention System is technology that looks at network (e.g. Internet) traffic to detect security threats like unwanted access. In Norton device security, the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) works together with the Smart Firewall to detect malware and intrusions from network traffic. The Intrusion Prevention System inspects traffic in a much deeper way than the Smart Firewall. Once the Smart Firewall lets permitted traffic in, IPS carefully examines the contents of the traffic that comes through.
A firewall is like a filter or barrier, but something has to inform the firewall of which rules to apply. In Norton device security software, another part of the software called the Intrusion Prevention System, or IPS, uses machine learning to look at millions of data points of what good traffic and bad traffic does, and the IPS then informs the firewall with its learnings. This is particularly important for security in the case of new attack methods that cyber criminals try to use to infiltrate computers or home networks, or to protect against attacks that use old malicious code re-purposed in different ways to bypass security filters. IPS and a firewall are part of the layer of security software that helps protect your computer at the network level, and they work in conjunction with other parts of security software like antivirus that protect in additional ways. With all of the features and technologies that make up Norton device security software, you can have peace of mind that viruses and malware that attempt to enter your computer can get caught by one of the layers of advanced security technology.
Many Windows® and Mac® computers have a firewall built in, but a firewall is just one part of security software. The Norton Smart Firewall monitors incoming and outgoing traffic, and works together with the Network Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) to inform the firewall about what “good” and “bad” traffic to allow or block. Because it looks at communications between your computer and other computers on the Internet, it protects your computer by:
While a built-in firewall in a computer is one step toward security, security software that includes a firewall provides much more thorough protection against all sorts of threats like malware, viruses and intrusions.
2 Virus Protection Promise: To be eligible, you must have a qualifying subscription that is automatically renewing. If a Norton expert is unable to remove the virus from your device, then you may receive a refund based on the actual price paid for the current term of your qualifying subscription. If you have a bundle (a qualifying subscription from NortonLifeLock purchased with either another offering from NortonLifeLock, or a third party offering), your refund will be limited to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of only your qualifying subscription for the current term, not to exceed the total bundled price paid. Any refund will be net of any discounts or refunds received and less any shipping, handling and applicable taxes, except in certain states and countries where shipping, handling and taxes are refundable. The refund does not apply to any damages incurred as a result of viruses. See norton.com/virus-protection-promise for complete details.
The Norton and LifeLock Brands are part of NortonLifeLock Inc. LifeLock identity theft protection is not available in all countries.
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