Smart Firewall
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.
What is a firewall?
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.
Who has access to your computer?
Problem
A cybercriminal may hack into your computer can take your valuable information.
Solution
The Norton Smart Firewall and IPS work together to block unauthorized access and carefully inspect all traffic that is permitted in.
8,500% increase in coinminer detections in 20176
Problem
A cybercriminal attempts to hijack your browser and tries to run crypto-mining tasks using your computer’s resources. This is known as cryptojacking.
Solution
The Norton Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is built to detect cryptojacking attempts, and it prevents them from running inside your browsers.
Keep your personal information where it belongs
Problem
Malicious apps or processes already installed on your computer can attempt to steal your private and sensitive data and put it in the wrong hands.
Solution
The Norton Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) checks for potential leaks of private and personal data by analyzing the content and the reputation of remote hosts used in the communication. When a potential leak is detected, IPS helps stops the traffic and further remediates the process used in the malicious communication.
Online threats are complex. Advanced layers of security technology can stop them.
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
PC, Mac
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.
Antivirus File
Scan
PC, Mac, Android
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.
Reputation
Database
PC
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.
Sonar™ Behavior
Monitoring
PC
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.
Powerful Erase
and Repair
PC
Advanced remediation tools such as Power Eraser and Norton Boot and Recovery seek out and destroy deep-rooted malware.
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.
Smart Firewall + Intrusion Prevention System
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.
Smart Firewall
Our
Smart Firewall helps protect your personal information from
unauthorized access to your personal files and financial information.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
The Intrusion Prevention System inspects traffic in a much deeper way than the Smart Firewall. Once the Smart Firewall lets permitted traffic in, IPS goes to work carefully examining the contents of all that traffic that comes through.
Network-level protection: Smart Firewall + IPS
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
Norton Smart Firewall + IPS
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:
- Block unauthorized users from accessing your computers through the internet.
- Create a shield that either allows or blocks attempts to access the information on your computer.
- Warn you of connection attempts from other computers.
- Warn you of connection attempts by the applications on your computer that connect to other computers.
- Block your data (passwords, keystrokes, files, tax returns etc.) from being taken by an outside source.
Screens are simulated and subject to change.
Smart Firewall is included in Norton 360
Frequently Asked Questions
A firewall is like a gatekeeper for your computer. You want to keep your personal information in and keep cybercriminals out. The firewall enforces rules about access to a computer, and the Norton Smart Firewall checks not only what’s coming in, but also what’s going out. If a cybercriminal were to sneak in and try to take your information with them, they could be caught on the way out. The firewall helps block your data like passwords, keystrokes and files from going out the door. The Norton network layer of protection also includes AI-powered technology that analyzes all network traffic, quarantines anything suspicious, and updates the smart firewall when new protection rules come into play. A firewall is one key component of computer security protection.
As a key component in security software, firewalls protect your devices specifically by doing the following:
- Preventing access by unauthorized users through the Internet
- Monitoring communication between your computer and other computers on the Internet
- Providing a filter that allows or blocks attempts to access the information on your computer, based on pre-set rules
- Warning you if another computer attempts to connect to yours
- Warning you if the applications on your computer attempt to connect to other computers
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:
- Improper Connection Attempts - Be warned about connection attempts from other computers and of attempts by programs on your computer to connect to other computers
- Port Scans - Cloak the inactive ports on your computer thereby providing protection against attacks through hacking techniques such as port scanning
- Intrusions - Monitor the network traffic to or from your computer for suspicious behavior and stops any attack before they threaten your system
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:
- Warning you if other computers or programs on your computer attempt to connect to other computers
- Cloaking inactive ports (where internet traffic comes in), providing protection against hacking techniques that use them
- Monitoring network traffic coming into and going out from your computer for suspicious behavior, and blocking attacks before they intrude onto your system
