iSACA Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certification Practice Exam

Which type of firewall typically has minimal system overhead?

1. Hardware firewall

2. Software firewall

3. Appliance firewall

4. All of the above

The correct answer is: Hardware firewall

A hardware firewall typically has minimal system overhead because it operates independently of the devices on a network. This type of firewall is usually a dedicated piece of hardware that processes and filters network traffic without consuming the system resources of individual computers or servers. By offloading firewall duties to a dedicated device, networks can maintain performance levels while improving security, as the hardware can be optimized specifically for that purpose. This is in contrast to software firewalls, which run on general-purpose operating systems and can consume CPU and memory resources from the host system, potentially affecting its performance. Appliance firewalls, while also designed for specific tasks similar to hardware firewalls, might include added layers or features that could introduce additional overhead depending on their configuration and usage. Therefore, the hardware firewall stands out for its efficient use of system resources, leading to minimal overhead.