A packet filter is a firewall that protects networked computers from external sources. It acts as a network policeman, examining all traffic going to the network before any traffic goes anywhere near the network. It can be customized and keeps a log of all activities. It is essential for large computer networks to protect against security breaches.
A packet filter is, in its essence, a firewall that protects networked computers from pollution from external sources, namely the Internet. The term is actually the name of the application, a type of Internet Protocol (IP) filter so called in Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) naming conventions. Acts as a network policeman, examining all traffic going to the network before any traffic goes anywhere near the network. Computer users may think of it in terms of a watchtower outside the moat that surrounds the castle. Packet filtering plays the role of both moat and watchtower, as most procedures involve more than one layer of security.
It is also a reverse engineering model, acting as a gatekeeper that prevents “dangerous” traffic from leaving the network. An apt analogy here would be the Great Wall of China, which was built to both keep out invading barbarians and keep dissident Chinese in. The “dangerous” traffic that a packet filter prevents from escaping could very well be corporate secrets, such as identity information and the like.
A packet filter can be customized, of course. A network administrator can set the filtering level to high, so nothing gets passed unless you authorize it. It can be programmed to look for certain keywords or IP addresses in incoming transmissions. The network administrator can even program the filter to exclude everything except a certain level of information, the parameters of which he sets in advance.
In most cases, the packet filter will keep a log of all of its activities. This log can also be customized to include data columns such as the number of data streams traced, the number of data streams intercepted, why those streams were intercepted, the IP addresses of all incoming transmissions, and how many times transmissions have been attempted . This way, the network administrator can follow up on security breach attempts.
A large computer network usually requires this application for protection. The last thing a bank president, for example, wants is for some hacker to gain control of the personal information of bank customers. The packet filter in this case will undoubtedly have a high level of security.
A company may also want to filter internal traffic as well, to ensure that no questionable traffic or data streams are transmitted between internally monitored computers. The application isn’t perfect, even if its creators wish it were, and for whatever reason, questionable files can infiltrate it. This type of penetration on one computer can soon lead to the infection of other computers on the network simply because they share an IP address or other type of network connection.
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