100-150 Question 263
Single answerA network administrator has configured a firewall to block all inbound traffic from specific IP addresses associated with malicious activity. However, users on the internal network can still browse the internet without issues. Which feature of the firewall is responsible for allowing internal traffic to flow out but blocking unwanted external traffic?
- A
Stateful inspection
- B
Network Address Translation (NAT)
- C
Access Control Lists (ACLs)
- D
Port mirroring
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is 'Stateful inspection' because firewalls use this feature to track the state of connections, allowing return traffic for internal requests while blocking unsolicited inbound traffic. This dynamic filtering ensures secure communication without disrupting legitimate outgoing traffic.
- A. Correct.
Stateful inspection tracks the state of active connections and determines whether packets are part of an established connection. This feature ensures that internal traffic initiated by users is allowed out while blocking unsolicited inbound traffic.
- B. Incorrect.
Network Address Translation (NAT) is used to translate private IP addresses to public IP addresses and vice versa, but it does not directly control or filter traffic based on connection state.
- C. Incorrect.
Access Control Lists (ACLs) are static rules that allow or deny traffic based on criteria like IP addresses or ports, but they do not dynamically track connection states.
- D. Incorrect.
Port mirroring is used to duplicate traffic on a port for monitoring purposes and does not filter or block traffic.