What are the differences between stateful and stateless firewalls?

Stateful and stateless firewalls are both network security systems but function in different ways:

Stateful firewall:

– A stateful firewall can track the state of active connections and make decisions based on the context of the traffic.

– It is aware of the state of the connection (such as TCP handshake, established connections) and can make intelligent decisions based on this information.

– Stateful firewalls are effective in filtering traffic based on more complex criteria.

– They offer better security as they can inspect the context of traffic and adapt to changing network conditions.

Stateless firewall:

– A stateless firewall filters packets based solely on static criteria such as source/destination IP addresses, ports, and protocols.

– It does not keep track of the state of active connections.

– Stateless firewalls are generally faster as they do not need to maintain connection states.

– They are simpler in design and implementation.

When to use each type:

– Stateful firewalls are suitable for environments where more advanced filtering based on connection state and context is needed, such as enterprise networks with diverse traffic types and security requirements.

– Stateless firewalls are useful in scenarios where simplicity, speed, and basic packet filtering are sufficient, such as in small networks or for specific performance-critical purposes.