Which type of firewall analyzes previous conversations to decide if a packet should be allowed into a network?

The type of firewall that analyzes previous conversations to decide if a packet should be allowed into a network is a stateful firewall. This firewall maintains a state table that keeps track of the state of active connections and uses this information to determine whether an incoming packet is part of an established connection or a new request. By understanding and tracking the context of traffic flows, stateful firewalls can make more informed decisions about which packets should be permitted or denied.

This capability allows stateful firewalls to provide a higher level of security compared to stateless firewalls, which treat each packet in isolation without knowledge of previous packets or connections. Consequently, a stateful firewall can effectively monitor and analyze communication sessions, thus enhancing the security posture of a network by preventing unauthorized access based on established contexts of allowed traffic.