Firewall and antivirus software both serve the same purpose: to keep your data safe from hackers and cybercriminals. However, despite their similarities, they are two different products that operate in a fundamentally different way. Understanding what the differences are between firewall and antivirus software can help you decide which mechanism is best for your computer, or network when multiple systems are present.
A firewall is a special type of computer software used to help prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. A firewall is typically placed on the same system as the gateway router for an office network, or between that network and the public internet. It is also possible to find personal firewalls on home computers used by individual people. Most routers used by consumers come with built-in firewalls; this protection can be turned off by the user if desired.
A firewall is a software application that monitors network traffic and blocks unauthorized access, while antivirus software prevents malware from infecting your device.
A firewall protects your computer from outside threats such as malicious data packets, viruses and worms. A firewall does not protect against threats that are already present on your computer, but it can help prevent them from spreading.
Antivirus software detects and removes viruses from a computer system. Antivirus programs are available for both computers and mobile devices. They scan for viruses in your files, emails and websites so you can avoid being infected by a virus or other malicious software.
A firewall is a software program that protects your computer from outside attacks. It does this by monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic and blocking any requests that are deemed suspicious or malicious. It can also scan files that are being uploaded or downloaded, and block those deemed dangerous.
Antivirus software is another type of security software that protects you from viruses and other harmful code like worms and trojans. Antivirus software scans all the files in your computer for malicious code, and prevents it from running on your system.
Difference Between Antivirus and Firewall
In the realm of cybersecurity, Antivirus and Firewall are two words used interchangeably. Both are used to protect the hardware and software of a computer system.
Yet there are fundamental differences between a firewall and antivirus software
For one, a firewall is a hardware and software-based security system designed to protect and monitor both a private internet network and a computer system. While antivirus is a software program that detects and eliminates any threats that will destroy a computer system.
Keeping the context of the IAS Exam in mind we will highlight further differences between a firewall and an antivirus
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Differences between Firewall and Antivirus
| Firewall | Antivirus |
| A firewall is a security network designed to protect computer systems and networks from malicious attacks. | Antivirus is is a software utility program designed to protect a system from internal attacks from viruses, trojan horse, spyware etc |
| The general term used for a firewall is “packet filter” because it filters any incoming data packets for suspicious contents. | Antivirus identifies and corrects any weaknesses found in the computer system. |
| The main purpose of a firewall is to monitor network traffic and restrict any unauthorized entry | The main function of an antivirus is to scan, detect, prevent and remove any existential threat to the computer system |
| A firewall works at a network protocol level to safeguard against any unwanted intrusion | An antivirus will only scan for any harmful programs that are present in the system such as viruses, worms, Trojans etc |
| One of the limitations of a firewall is that it cannot block any internal attacks and also those attacks that bypass its network coverage | One of the limitations of an antivirus is that it is cannot check read-only files. |
| DEC SEAL was the first commercially viable firewall program that came out in 1992. Its creation was spearheaded by American computer scientists Brian Reed and Jeff Mogul. | The first documented removal of a computer virus was by an actual antivirus software was in 1987 when a German computer security expert, Bernard Robert Fix, created a programme to remove a virus that had infected files in a DOS-based system |