Which of the following types of firewalls increases the security of data packets by remembering the state of connection at the network and the session layers as they pass through the filter?

Question

Options

• AStateless packet filter firewall
• BPIX firewall
• CStateful packet filter firewall
• DVirtual firewall

• A
  3% (1)
• C
  97% (28)

Explanation

Stateful packet filter firewalls (C) track the state of active connections at both the network and session layers, maintaining a state table that records connection context - this allows them to make smarter allow/deny decisions by knowing whether a packet is part of an established, legitimate session.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (Stateless) - the opposite; stateless firewalls inspect each packet in isolation with no memory of prior packets or connection state, making them less secure.
• B (PIX firewall) - PIX is a specific Cisco hardware product, not a firewall type; it actually uses stateful inspection, but the question asks about the category, not a brand.
• D (Virtual firewall) - describes a deployment model (software-based, cloud/hypervisor-hosted), not an inspection methodology; virtual firewalls can be stateful or stateless.

Memory tip: Think "stateful = state table = smart" - it remembers the handshake and ongoing conversation, so it knows if an incoming packet was invited or is crashing the party uninvited.

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