Firewall role in security – UGC NET Question

A firewall acts as a barrier between trusted internal networks and external networks such as the Internet. It filters incoming and outgoing packets according to defined policies, blocking suspicious or prohibited connections. This reduces the risk of intrusions, data theft and malware spread. The option explains this traffic filtering function accurately.

Option A:
This option correctly highlights inspection and rule based control as the main tasks. It shows that firewalls are preventive measures designed to enforce organisational security policies at network boundaries.

Option B:
Processing speed depends on hardware and system configuration and is not directly increased by installing a firewall. In some cases, heavy filtering may even introduce slight delays.

Option C:
Automated writing of research papers is outside the scope of any security device. Firewalls are concerned with access, not content creation.

Option D:
Converting digital data into printed books is a documentation strategy and has nothing to do with network packet filtering.