Explain how rule order and implicit deny affect whether traffic is allowed through a firewall.

### What a good answer covers - Rules are evaluated from the top of the policy list downward. - A matching rule determines the action for the traffic. - The implicit deny is the default action when no earlier rule matches. - Policies should allow required traffic rather than broadly allowing everything. ### The concept A security policy is a set of conditions and actions. A rule can identify source, destination, and service, then allow or deny matching traffic. Rule order matters because an earlier match can decide the outcome before later rules are reached. The implicit deny provides a default block when none of the explicit rules match. ### Terms - **Implicit deny**: The default denial applied when no policy rule matches. - **Security policy**: A set of rules that controls network traffic. ### Remember Read the policy from top to bottom, and assume unmatched traffic is denied.