Stateful and Stateless Firewall: Everything To Know in 10 Easy Points(2021)

Introduction

Stateful and Stateless firewalls appear to be familiar but they are way different from each other in terms of capability, functions, principles, etc.  There are different types of firewalls and the incoming and outgoing traffic follows the set of rules organizations have determined in these firewalls. The main concern of the users is to safeguard the important data and information and prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. To secure that, they have the option to choose among the firewalls that can fulfill their requirements. they are looking for. The firewall provides critical protection to the business and its  information.

1. Stateful Firewall
2. How Stateful firewall works
3. Stateful Firewall example
4. Stateless Firewall
5. How Stateless firewall works
6. Stateless Firewall example
7. Difference between the stateful and stateless firewall
8. Advantages and disadvantages of a stateful firewall and a stateless firewall
9. Choosing between Stateful firewall and Stateless firewall
10. Firewall for small business
11. Firewall for large establishments

1. Stateful Firewall

This firewall monitors the full state of active network connections. A stateful firewall tracks the state of network connections when it is filtering the data packets. These firewalls can watch the traffic streams end to end. Stateful firewalls are aware of the communication path and can implement various IP security functions such as tunnels or encryptions. These firewalls are faster and perform better under heavier traffic and are better in identifying unauthorized or forged communication.

2. How Stateful firewall works

Stateful Firewall inspects packets and if the packets match with the rule in the firewall then it is allowed to go through. The packets which are approved by this firewall can travel freely in the network.

3. Stateful Firewall example

Could be The example is the Transport Control Protocol(TCP.) It saves the record of its connection by saving its port number, source, and destination, IP address, etc.

4. Stateless Firewall

This firewall watches the network traffic and is based on the source and the destination or other values. They have no data on the traffic patterns and restrict the pattern based on the destination or the source. It is also termed as the Access control list ( ACL). This firewall does not inspect the traffic. It just works according to the set of rules and filters.

5. How Stateless firewall works

Stateless firewalls monitor the incoming traffic packets. They allow or deny packets into their network based on the source and the destination address, or some other information like traffic type. They just monitor some basic information of the packets and restriction or permission depends upon that.

6. Stateless Firewall example

An example of a Stateless firewall is File Transfer Protocol (FTP).  This is the most common way of receiving the sending files between two computers..

7. Difference between the stateful and stateless firewall

Stateful firewalls are smarter and responsible to monitor and detect the end-to-end traffic stream, and to defend according to the traffic pattern and flow. It filters the packets based on the full context given to the network connection.   These firewalls are faster and work excellently, under heavy traffic flow. They are also better at identifying forged or unauthorized communication.

On the other hand, a stateless firewall is basically an Access Control List ( ACLs) that contains the set of rules which allows or restricts the flow of traffic depending upon the source, IP address, destination, port number, network protocols, and some other related fields. This firewall doesn’t interfere in the traffic flow, they just go through the basic information about them, and allowing or discard depends upon that. But there is a chance for the forged packets or attack techniques may fool these firewalls and may bypass them.   

8. Advantages and disadvantages of a stateful firewall and a stateless firewall

Stateful firewall advantages-

• This firewall is smarter and faster in detecting forged or unauthorized communication. This can also make future filtering decisions on the cumulative of past and present findings.
• Not many ports are required to open for effective communication in this firewall.
• The balance between the proxy security and the packet filter performance is good.
• Powerful memory.
• Extensive logging capabilities.
• Robust attack prevention.

Stateful firewall disadvantages-

• The data transfer rate is slow.
• The firewall must be updated with the latest available technologies else it may allow the hackers to compromise or take control of the firewall.
• This firewall demands a high memory and processing power as in stateful firewall tables have to maintain and to pass the access list, logic is used.
• Some of these firewalls may be tricked to allow or attract outside connections.

Stateless firewall advantages-

• These firewalls are less complex.
• Stateless firewalls are very simple to implement.
• Performance delivery is very fast.
• Perform excellent under pressure and heavy traffic.
• As compared to a stateful firewall, stateless firewalls are much cheaper. But these days, you might see significant drops in the cost of a stateful firewall too.

Stateless firewall disadvantages-

• The main disadvantage of this firewall is trust. This firewall assumes that the packet information can be trusted. It does not examine the entire packet but just check if the packets satisfy the existing set of security rules.
• This firewall doesn’t monitor or inspect the traffic.
• To provide and maximize the desired level of protection, these firewalls require some configurations.
• The packet will pass the firewall if an attacker sends SYN/ACK as an initial packet in the network, the host will ignore it.

9. Choosing between Stateful firewall and Stateless firewall

There are various firewalls present in the market nowadays, and the question to choose depends on your business’s needs and nature. The firewall provides security for all kinds of businesses. It is up to you to decide what type of firewall suits you the most. 

• What kind of traffic flow you intend to monitor.
• What operating system best suits your requirements.
• How will this firewall fit into your network?
• What suits best to your organization, an appliance, or a network solution.
• And above all, you must know the reason why you want to implement a firewall.

10. Firewall for small business

Stateless firewalls are cheaper compared to the stateful firewall. A small business may not afford the cost of a stateful firewall. Small businesses can opt for a stateless firewall and keep their business running safely. The traffic volumes are lower in small businesses, so is the threat. The fast-paced performance with the ability to perform better in heavier traffics of this firewall attracts small businesses. Few trusted people in a small office with normal and routine capabilities can easily go along with a stateless firewall.

11. Firewall for large establishments

Mainly Stateful firewalls provide security to large establishments as these are powerful and sophisticated. Because of the dynamic packets filtering, these firewalls are preferred by large establishments as they offer better security features. Stateful firewalls are powerful. They, monitor, and detect threats, and eliminate them. Large corporations opt for a stateful firewall because it provides levels of security layers along with continuous monitoring of traffic. 

Conclusion

In the end, it is you who has to decide and choose. But it is necessary to opt for one of these if you want your business to run securely, without the risk of being harmed. By implementing the firewall you can easily avoid unnecessary headaches and loss that can occur due to unauthorized or forged communication. If you plan to build your career in Cyber Security and learn more about defensive cybersecurity technologies, Jigsaw Academy’s 520-hour-long Master Certificate in Cyber Security (Blue Team) is the right course for you…

Also Read

• Firewall Configuration: A Useful 4 Step Guide