Pitfalls of a Firewall

  • Because firewalls inspect every piece of information transferred between users sending information or people downloading information from the Internet, they can slow down the network.
  • You have to bear in mind that running and managing a firewall can be costly in terms of resources and budget. There tend to be issues about who manages the firewall and who decides on the policies, i.e. who can access what information and what websites are appropriate or relevant to the organisational needs.
  • Firewalls cannot alert an administrator that pornographic material is being accessed so it is sometimes best to implement a content monitoring or filtering program as well.
  • Some firewalls claim to be proficient at protecting networks from virus attacks and other malware. This is generally not the case and the user needs to check how effective the firewall is or purchase third party antivirus software.
  • Firewalls can be restrictive in certain circumstances. If, for example, an email with an important attachment such as a business proposal is stopped by the firewall because it is deemed to be in breach of the company’s security policies, it might have an effect on the business.
  • If a firewall is installed incorrectly it can prevent users accessing important information on the internet.