Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . The firewall, which has served as the sentry between the outside world of the Internet and the internal agency network, may be moving inside the network perimeter to World Wide Web servers, PCs, modems and silicon chips. Such internal firewalls, known as distributed firewalls, are the next line of defense against hackers who breach traditional firewalls by exploiting open ports and e-mail servers.
Network managers tend to see distributed firewalls as added firepower against hackers.
He added CyberWallPlus embedded firewall software, a product from Network-1 Security Solutions Inc., to his internal servers after he realized that hackers occasionally made it past Ramp Networks WebRamp Internet access and firewall box Intellinetics uses. Thus, one can restrict access to a file server to only those who need it, rather than letting anyone inside the company pound on it. But some security vendors have mixed views about distributed firewalls. Mark McArdle, a vice president in Network Associates Inc.'s managed security services division, questioned the value of running firewall software directly on the Web server. Application servers tend to be changed with a little more of a cavalier attitude, which could affect the firewall on it.