Firewall vs Antivirus: Difference and Comparison

A firewall is standard software that protects the device from incoming network traffic and works as a barrier between the internal network and the traffic. Antivirus prevents our computers from viruses.

A firewall can be hardware or software, but having it in both is better. 

Key Takeaways

1. Firewalls monitor and control network traffic, while antivirus software scans and removes malicious software from devices.
2. Firewalls provide external protection by preventing unauthorized access, whereas antivirus programs offer internal security against threats.
3. Firewalls and antivirus software work together to provide comprehensive protection against various cyber threats.

Firewall vs Antivirus

Firewalls monitor and control network traffic to prevent unauthorized access and protect against cyber attacks. Antivirus software is designed to detect and remove malware from a computer or network. It scans files and programs for known malware signatures and uses behavioural analysis to detect new threats.

A firewall is standard software that protects our device from the local computer assets, or we can say, the external threats which can cause our PC and work as a barrier to the firewall

The three types are network layer firewalls, application-level, and circuit-level firewalls.

An antivirus is software for cybersecurity, and this is an application that provides security to our PC from malicious software which comes from the Internet to our PC there are three methods for performing this action::: detection, identification, and removal.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Firewall	Antivirus
Implementation	This is only implemented at the software level	It involves the external and internal threats
Performing operations	It monitors and filters the PC from the incoming internet traffic	It scans the corrupt files and the software and prevents the virus
Concerns	It concerns all types of the external threats	There are no counterattacks available afteCounterattacksis removed
Counterattacks	It has IP spoofing and routing attacks	There are no counterattacks available afteCounterattacksis removed
Basis of attack inspection	On the incoming packets	On malicious software living on the computer.

What is Firewall?

A firewall is a security device that secures our network and monitors the incoming and outgoing traffic so that it will allow or block them from entering. All this happens based on a set of security rules.

The main motive of this is to work as a barrier between the internal network and the incoming traffic from external sources like the internet so that it can block the virus or hackers from entering the system.

A software firewall is a program that is installed in each computer so that it will regulate the traffic with the help of port numbers and the applications present, while the physical firewall

or the hardware firewall is installed between your network and the gateway to work as a traffic barrier.

When we talk about the types of firewalls the most common type is Packet-filtering Firewalls, and this is also divided into two-part which are namely called stateful and stateless.

As the stateless firewall examines the packets independently. This may be less secure as others can access the information quickly but statefully remembers the knowledge of the

previous data so that this is considered more secure than a stateless firewall. 

What is Antivirus?

Antivirus is a kind of software invented and used to prevent our computer from virus s it scans the virus and then deletes it from our computer.

As we install antivirus in the PC, there is some antivirus which works on the background of the PC so that they will prevent it from the real-time virus attacks and this antivirus we do not need to on then they are automatic.

As the comprehensive programs protect our program, files, and hardware from malware, these programs are namely worms, trojan horses, and spyware. They are customized with firewall and website-blocking features too. 

As the antivirus first begins, we operate by checking our computer and the program files so that it can be aware of the malware.

Hence the new type of virus is also distributed by the hackers so that it is possible for any other kind of malware threats.

Generally, we use three primary devices for detection that are specific detection- which identifies the malware; generic detection- which searches for the known parts or the types of malware

that are common, and the third one is heuristic detection- which searches for the unknown virus by finding the suspicious file structure. 

Main Differences Between Firewall and Antivirus

1. A firewall is implemented on both the software level and hardware level whereas antivirus is implemented at the software level only.
2. Firewall monitors and filters the PC from the incoming internet traffic whereas an antivirus scans all the corrupt or virus-infected files and all the software and prevents the virus.
3. Firewall concerns only external threats, whereas antivirus concerns external and internal threats.
4. Firewalls have IP spoofing and routing counterattacks whereas antivirus does not have any counterattacks after the counterattacksved
5. Firewall attacks on the incoming counterattacks and antivirus attacks on malicious software live on the computer.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214212618301455
2. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/4085592/

Last Updated : 30 June, 2023