Firewall and Antivirus software sound much like the equivalent to unknowns, right? Well, to enhance your knowledge, there is a difference! In fact many. Antivirus and firewall software is the security mechanism to safeguard the cybersecurity of our systems. But to understand the differences, we first need to understand the basic concepts of antivirus and firewall software. So here we are going to compare both Firewall Vs Antivirus to know the difference between both security software.

An antivirus is a software installed in our systems as a part of cybersecurity actions that protect our systems against any internal threats. They help in suspecting malicious files, viruses, or even Trojan horses if any attack the computer. The purpose of an antivirus is to detect and destroy any computer viruses in your system.

On the other hand, talking about the concept of firewalls, they help against controlling the network traffic in the system. Firewalls are a barrier against any incoming traffic acting as a part of the cybersecurity to safeguard our systems. The firewall also includes VPN services such as NordVPN, CyberGhost, and so on. You can buy these services at reasonable pricing using NordVPN coupons & vouchers.

Firewalls help monitor the incoming and outgoing network traffic. It has a set of defined security rules which help decide whether to allow or block a certain kind of traffic in our system.

Feature Differences Between Firewall And Antivirus

To know about the difference between the Firewall and Antivirus features, explore the features. With the help of the best quality features, you can make your devices free from viruses, malware, and trojans.

Compare the features of Firewall and Antivirus to find the best one.

Antivirus Software Features

Let’s explore the features of Antivirus software that helps you to keep your devices safe from online threats and bugs.

Protection for Remote Work

Some dangerous websites can install malware or unnecessary extensions on your system in the background. You won’t even notice it. Hence, a good virus software has the feature to block such suspicious activities in the background, which can infect your computer.

Regular Operating System Updates

 New kinds of malware are developed very often in the market now. It is essential to select an antivirus that can update itself automatically against all these newly developed malware.

Scanning in Real-Time

An antivirus solution automatically runs scheduled scans on your computer in the background and detects the presence of malware, if any. Usually, ineffective products might ask you to manually run a scan at your preferred ease, but the best software has some dynamic scanning features. It allows repeated checking of malware in the background at regular intervals and eliminates the virus automatically if detected.

Protection for all Types of Malware

Numbers of malware are a threat of attacking computer systems like trojans, bots, spyware, viruses, etc. It is always better to select an antivirus that gives protection against all different kinds of malware that exist.

Auto-Cleaning Feature

Some anti-virus software waits for the user to manually delete the malware when detected. Although nowadays many updated software has the auto-cleaning feature which automatically deletes the malicious virus on the spot when detected without asking the user permission to do so.

Features Of A Firewall

To know about the qualities of a firewall let’s figure out the features of a Firewall.

Prevention of Threats

A firewall can minimize the damage to a cyberattack by identifying and blocking the network beforehand as it reaches the network boundary. It will help prevent threats to the device easily by inspecting the network packets beforehand.

Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

When you have a remote working system, you need to make sure the end-user is working on a safe and secure network. A VPN software feature ensures a safe working tunnel transmitting data between the company network and the remote user.

Deep Packet Inspections (DPI)

Another advanced feature of DPI will examine the content packets at given checkpoints while looking for any suspicious malware and eliminating them in real-time as per the assigned rules.

Sandboxing

One of the important features most people are unaware of is sandboxing. It takes a file and opens it in a completely different test environment to check if it’s safe or not by scanning it. If the file or user looks safe, it is finally passed on to the end-user or else flagged as a threat to the user.

Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)

An IPS help in continuous monitoring of your networks to filter and take out information of any malicious attacks that are possible. IPS generates reports about such possible attacks on your network and sends them to the administrator for taking the necessary preventive steps as desired.

Difference Between Firewall And Antivirus

Sr. No	Firewall	Antivirus
1	A firewall protects both – hardware and software.	Antivirus protects only the software of a computer.
2	Useful to monitor and inhibit malicious software from entering the computer network (IP filtering).	Useful in scanning and removing malicious files and software.
3	Inspect the incoming packets at a  network protocol level.	Inspect any malicious software living in the computer and remove them.
4	The firewall is concerned with external threats only.	Antivirus is concerned with internal as well as external threats.
5	The programming of a firewall is more complex than an antivirus.	An antivirus has much simpler programming comparatively.
6	In a firewall, counter-attacks such as IP Spoofing and routing attacks are possible.	Here, the functions of antivirus are limited to detecting and removing malware. No counter-attacks are possible.

Which is the best for you?

If you deal with sensitive information and financial details on your computer device, you don’t want it to fall prey to cybercriminals, right?

When it comes to the security of your data, prevention is better than doing the aftermath later of the damage caused. Antivirus and firewall software are like perfect partners to your data security system. Both of them will only improve your data security levels against any risk of cyber-attacks possible.