A firewall can be used as a packet filter. It can forward or block packets based on the
information in the network layer and transport layer headers: source and destination
IP addresses, source and destination port addresses, and type of protocol (TCP or UDP).
A packet-filter firewall is a router that uses a filtering table to decide which packets
must be discarded (not forwarded). Figure 30.33 shows an example of a filtering table
for this kind of a firewall.
According to the figure, the following packets are filtered:
1. Incoming packets from network 131.34.0.0. are blocked (security precaution).
Note that the * (asterisk) means “any.”
2. Incoming packets destined for any internal TELNET server (port 23) are
blocked.
Figure 30.32 Firewall
Outgoing Incoming
Firewall
Site
Internet