What Is A Firewall And How Do They Work?

Any computer user who spends any amount of time online should be using firewall software. It doesn't matter if you connect using dialup or broadband a firewall is a required piece of software nowadays. The number of online threats to your data and personal identity makes it virtual suicide to not use firewall protection.

So what is a firewall? It's essential protection for your computer from both external and internal threats. A firewall can come in either hardware or software forms - sometimes even as combination of both. Firewalls can and will prevent unauthorized access to your computer or a network of computers in your business.

Any good firewall will offer you several layers of system protection by using rules to filter through the data coming to or leaving your computer. Regardles of what type of firewall you settle for in the end make sure it has the following features:

Data/Packet Scanning
This feature checks all incoming data arriving on your computer and based on a set of rules either accepts the data or rejects it. This data is often referred to as packets.

Application Protection
This means that any program attempting to access the Internet for whatever reason must first be approved by you. Once you've approved the application to access the Internet once you don't need to do so again. This is especially good for catching the more malicious types of spyware and trojan viruses.

TCP/UDP Port Scanning
Spyware is often used to deliver viruses directly to your PC. These various viruses will attempt to attack your computer via UDP (User Datagram Protocol) or TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) attacks. A standard TCP/IP connection to the Internet can leave lots of ports on your computer open to attack. Even a cheap firewall should always check that sensitive ports are blocked, all new ports being opened need to be authorized by you and also explain to you why the port is being accessed.

So how important are firewalls?
There was a time when firewalls were just the "toys" of IT administrators in big companies. Those days are over. If you ever connect your computer to the internet you need a firewall - it really is that simple.

Where can you get one?
There's lots of firewall softwares available today both in stores and online. One of the easiest to use is Zonealarm and it's free! It performs all the required functions and is very easy-to-use. As far as free firewalls go Zone Alarm tops the list.

If you're looking for a more comprehensive piece of software then you could look at some of the following:

Zone Alarm Pro
Black Ice Defender
Norton Personal Firewall

I've tested all of the above over the years and found them to be good options for anybody looking for a good personal firewall package. They all have their own individual quirks (all software does) but are stable and reliable.

Whatever firewall you choose just make sure that you install one. Any active firewall on your PC is better than no firewall at all. With the ever increasing number of threats waiting online you can no longer surf safely without one.

All content displayed on this site is protected under copyright. Any unauthorized use of the content
will result in legal action. This includes the use of scraping tools. Copyright 2006 www.spam-site.com

[Close]
Sample content here.

What Is A Firewall And How Do They Work?

Any good firewall will offer you several layers of system protection by using rules to filter through the data coming to or leaving your computer. Regardles of what type of firewall you settle for in the end make sure it has the following features:

Data/Packet Scanning
This feature checks all incoming data arriving on your computer and based on a set of rules either accepts the data or rejects it. This data is often referred to as packets.

So how important are firewalls?
There was a time when firewalls were just the "toys" of IT administrators in big companies. Those days are over. If you ever connect your computer to the internet you need a firewall - it really is that simple.

Where can you get one?
There's lots of firewall softwares available today both in stores and online. One of the easiest to use is Zonealarm and it's free! It performs all the required functions and is very easy-to-use. As far as free firewalls go Zone Alarm tops the list.

If you're looking for a more comprehensive piece of software then you could look at some of the following:

Zone Alarm Pro
Black Ice Defender
Norton Personal Firewall

I've tested all of the above over the years and found them to be good options for anybody looking for a good personal firewall package. They all have their own individual quirks (all software does) but are stable and reliable.

Whatever firewall you choose just make sure that you install one. Any active firewall on your PC is better than no firewall at all. With the ever increasing number of threats waiting online you can no longer surf safely without one.

What Is A Firewall And How Do They Work?

Any good firewall will offer you several layers of system protection by using rules to filter through the data coming to or leaving your computer. Regardles of what type of firewall you settle for in the end make sure it has the following features:

Data/Packet Scanning This feature checks all incoming data arriving on your computer and based on a set of rules either accepts the data or rejects it. This data is often referred to as packets.

So how important are firewalls? There was a time when firewalls were just the "toys" of IT administrators in big companies. Those days are over. If you ever connect your computer to the internet you need a firewall - it really is that simple.

Where can you get one? There's lots of firewall softwares available today both in stores and online. One of the easiest to use is Zonealarm and it's free! It performs all the required functions and is very easy-to-use. As far as free firewalls go Zone Alarm tops the list.

If you're looking for a more comprehensive piece of software then you could look at some of the following:

Zone Alarm Pro Black Ice Defender Norton Personal Firewall

I've tested all of the above over the years and found them to be good options for anybody looking for a good personal firewall package. They all have their own individual quirks (all software does) but are stable and reliable.

Whatever firewall you choose just make sure that you install one. Any active firewall on your PC is better than no firewall at all. With the ever increasing number of threats waiting online you can no longer surf safely without one.

Data/Packet Scanning
This feature checks all incoming data arriving on your computer and based on a set of rules either accepts the data or rejects it. This data is often referred to as packets.

So how important are firewalls?
There was a time when firewalls were just the "toys" of IT administrators in big companies. Those days are over. If you ever connect your computer to the internet you need a firewall - it really is that simple.

Where can you get one?
There's lots of firewall softwares available today both in stores and online. One of the easiest to use is Zonealarm and it's free! It performs all the required functions and is very easy-to-use. As far as free firewalls go Zone Alarm tops the list.

Zone Alarm Pro
Black Ice Defender
Norton Personal Firewall