User's Manual

Introduction to Network Security
8 WatchGuard Firebox X Edge
Firewalls
A firewall divides your internal network from the Internet to reduce
this danger. The computers on the “trusted” (internal) side of a fire-
wall are protected. The illustration below shows how a firewall phys-
ically divides the trusted network (your computers) from the
Internet.
Firewalls allow the user to define access policies for the Internet
traffic going to the computers they are protecting. Many also pro-
vide the ability to control what services or ports the protected com-
puters are able to access on the Internet (outbound access). Most
firewalls intended for home use come with pre-configured security
policies from which the user chooses, and some—such as the Firebox
X Edge—allow the user to customize these policies for their specific