What does a Stateful Multilayer Inspection Firewall do?

A Stateful Multilayer Inspection Firewall is designed to combine features from various types of firewalls, particularly stateful packet inspection and application layer filtering. This means that it not only examines each packet of data as it passes through but also keeps track of the state of active connections, allowing it to make more informed decisions regarding network traffic. By analyzing both the headers and the payloads of packets, this type of firewall can identify the nature of the traffic, which enhances security by providing a deeper level of inspection compared to simpler firewalls.

The combination of features allows the firewall to remember the context of network connections and apply more complex rules for allowing or denying traffic. This multi-layered approach provides better security than relying solely on one type of inspection or filtering, making it an effective choice for protecting networks against a variety of threats.

In contrast, options referring to operating solely at Layer 3, filtering data packets without state tracking, or being categorized strictly as hardware-based firewalls do not capture the full functionality and capabilities of stateful multilayer inspection firewalls. They emphasize limitations or characteristics that neglect the comprehensive and integrated protection that this type of firewall offers.