ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Fundamentals Specialist (IC32) Practice Test

The correct choice is stateful inspection because this type of firewall maintains a table of active connections, allowing it to monitor the state of these connections and determine which packets should be permitted based on their state and context within the established session. Unlike simple packet filters, which make decisions based solely on predefined rules and header information, stateful inspection firewalls have a deeper understanding of ongoing traffic patterns.

This capability enables them to differentiate between new, established, and unrelated packets, enhancing security by providing more nuanced control over network traffic. They track the connection's state throughout its lifecycle, taking actions that help prevent unauthorized access and attacks that may exploit a connection's vulnerabilities.

Other firewall types, like packet filters, focus purely on header information without understanding the context of traffic flow, while application proxies operate at the application layer and do not track connections in the same way. Intrusion prevention systems are tasked with identifying and reacting to malicious activity rather than primarily controlling connection states.