Network Security and Firewall Technology

With the explosion of the public Internet, corporate networks connected to the Internet, if not adequately secured, are vulnerable to damaging attacks. Hackers, viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware try to invade privacy. This research examines how these threats affect the corporate network and ways to reduce them. MikroTik routerOS was configured as the router to examine these threats. Network Address Translation and packet filtering where the key features configured to make the network hidden for unauthorized users and filter unwanted traffics that might reflect malicious acts. The configuration and test were carried out at Iya Abubakar Computer Center, Ahamdu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. At the onset, the targeted network was full of virus, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, and vulnerable to unauthorized users. The signal strength of the network was usually very poor due to the effect from the threats affecting the bandwidth. The firewall was configured to filter out inherently dangerous services, exposing the network to fewer risks. After the research, the performance and efficiency of the network was improved tremendously.