Did you know that one crucial application that protects us from the cyber evil out there is already a quarter of a century old?
The first firewall, introduced in 1991, was created to combat computer viruses and Internet worms. Over the years, as attacks and malware have become more sophisticated, the firewall has had to develop and grow with each security breach that has been discovered.
However, it was not until 2003 that the concept of a Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) would be introduced.
The evolution of the firewall has occurred relatively quickly. Here is a quick rundown of the firewall evolution timeline:
1998: An Intrusion Detection System was released
2003: Gartner begins to discuss Next Generation Firewall
2006: Web application firewalls become stronger
2012: An evader tool is launched, as was security-enabled security
2014: The firewall turns 25
A mere 10 years after the conceptualization of NGFW, McAfee was already ahead of the competition with their own NGFW development efforts.
“The firewall has had a great evolution, but its development and growth really occurred with each security breach discovered. These events triggered security developers to react with more and more advanced firewall technology,” said a McAfee blog.
McAfee, part of Intel Security, celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Firewall with the launch of an infographic showing the last 2.5 decades in review:
