Which firewall type is known for not maintaining the connection states of traffic?

The correct choice is the stateless firewall, which is defined by its method of handling network traffic without maintaining connection states. Unlike stateful firewalls, which track the state of active connections and use that information to determine what traffic is allowed, stateless firewalls operate solely on individual packets.

This means that each packet is evaluated in isolation, based on predetermined rules such as source IP, destination IP, and protocol type. Stateless firewalls are generally faster and require less computational resources because they do not need to maintain a table of active connections; however, they are less secure than their stateful counterparts since they cannot make informed decisions based on the state of a connection.

Understanding the differences and the operational context of various firewall types contributes significantly to network security strategy and implementation.