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What is the difference between an antivirus and a firewall?

The cybersecurity is today a very important issue for companies and in particular for the very small companies which are more and more concerned by the attacks of ransomware and other cyber attacks. Among the tools to ensure the security of the company’s computer system are the firewall and the antivirus. Many people still confuse them: so what is the difference between an antivirus and a firewall?

What is a firewall?

A firewall can be considered as a standard tool that protects the company’s computer system from external threats. It works as a filter for IP packets coming from the network to the company’s computer system. Thus, it blocks unwanted traffic on the way in and on the way out. Operating systems Windows and Mac OS have a built-in firewall . If it must be activated manually on Mac, on Windows it works automatically.

As with the antivirus, it is not necessary or even advisable to use more than one firewall at a time. Under Windows 10, the antivirus and/or firewall are automatically deactivated when installing third-party software.

The characteristics of a firewall

First of all, the firewall guarantees the filtering of all traffic from outside or vice versa to prevent threats. Authorized traffic passes through the firewall according to a well-defined security policy. Using a secure operating system, It provides robust protection against cyber attacks.

What are the different types of firewalls?

Proxy firewall

The proxy firewall is a tool that works as a physical barrier and acts as an intermediary between external networks and computers to prevent direct contact between them. Its purpose is to analyze and evaluate the incoming data that are intended for the user.

Firewall with dynamic inspection

Dynamically inspected firewalls are a type of firewall known as “classical” firewalls that work by allowing or blocking traffic according to technical properties. It decides whether or not to forward data to the user by applying several filters configured by the administrator himself. The firewall can also act on its own based on previous interactions that have allowed it to draw conclusions.

Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)

Next-generation firewalls combine the functionality of a traditional firewall with new network monitoring systems. They have been designed to address specific threats and thus be able to examine and detect advanced malware. They are especially suitable for enterprise use.

What are the limitations of the firewall?

It is important to know that the firewall can neither block nor bypass internal attacks.

What is an antivirus?

An antivirus is an application software ensuring the security of the computer systemIt also recognizes suspicious behaviors of malware that are not yet known and blocks their execution before they cause damage to the computer. It also recognizes suspicious behavior of malicious software that is still unknown and blocks its execution before it causes damage to the computer.

The antivirus software works by detecting, identifying and removing detected threats. In detection, the software receives a signal notifying the malware attack and locates the infected file/program. The identification stage consists in recognizing the type of the virus, while during the removal stage the antivirus software eliminates the infected file and all its traces and then restores the original backup file/program.

If the virus is detected but it is not possible to identify and remove it, the antivirus software proceeds to delete the infected file and will reload the backup version without infection.

Antivirus software has undergone many improvements in order to adapt to new types of viruses, whose technology has also improved and which are no longer simple code fragments that are easy to identify and remove.

The different generations of antivirus software

First generation

These are simple scanners that require a virus signature to identify the virus in question and were therefore limited to one type of specific virus. They can do nothing against “generic” viruses.

Second generation

These are antiviruses that use the heuristic approach to perform the search for a possible virus attack . To do this, the program searches for blocks of code that are usually associated with viruses.

Third generation

These are anti-virus software that reside in memory and identify viruses by their activities, not their structure.

Fourth generation

This generation of antivirus software combines several antivirus techniques such as scanning, monitoring , …. These methods are also known as behavior blocking software that is directly incorporated into the computer’s operating system and detects virus actions in real time. Once an unsafe action is detected, the software proceeds to block it in order to avoid further damage. This antivirus focuses on prevention rather than virus detection.

What are the limits of the antivirus?

The antivirus only supports the CIFSor Common interface file system . In practice, files that are read simultaneously during writing cannot benefit from virus protection. It is also not possible to perform virus checking on read-only files.

What is the difference between a firewall and antivirus?

The firewall is used in software and hardware while the antivirus can only be installed in software.

Their operation is also different, in the sense that the firewall monitors and filters packets incoming and outgoing while the antivirus performs a scanning operation which is divided into three stages (detection, identification and removal).

The types of attacks handled by these two tools differ: while firewalls can only handle external attacks, antivirus software can handle two types of attacks (external and internal).

For the firewall, the attack is inspected through incoming packets by applying a set of rules. On the other hand, the antivirus scans files and programs infected with the virus.

In conclusion, a firewall and an antivirus may seem similar at first glance, since they both provide the computer with protection against internal and external threats. Their differences lie in the way they work and in the threats they prevent or counter. While antivirus software can detect, identify and remove malware, a firewall can prevent unapproved programs or programs of dubious origin from accessing the computer.

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