subject: Protecting Your Computer with a Firewall [print this page] Protecting Your Computer with a Firewall Protecting Your Computer with a Firewall
Why do you need to protect your computer with a firewall? Does a firewall really help? A firewall is a program or hardware that provides your computer protection from anonymous hackers, worms, and viruses that try to invade your computer through the Internet. It is a barrier that protects your computer. The firewall scans the things that go through your Internet access point to filter your computer from anomalies based on how you customized the settings. If you are lucky, your antivirus firewall software program may already have an integrated firewall solution.
A firewall's task is tantamount to an actual, physical firewall which keeps fire from spreading to other areas or even your home.
When using your computer at home, or you have a network of computers, or you are using your computer for business, it is essentially important to turn on your firewall. The firewall has two variations. One is hardware and the other is a software program. The hardware firewall is a piece of electronic device which is usually used by businesses handling large networks. Computers used at home usually use the software firewall.
The firewall is needed especially if you have a DSL service or a cable modem for Internet connection. But, having your firewall turned on does not mean you are completely and fully protected from hackers, worms, and viruses. The firewall will not always block virus in emails or malwares from attacking and infiltrating your computer. You also need to have updated antivirus software installed in your computer to double the security and increase the protection.
Firewalls use different combinations of the three ways to control the inflow and outflow of traffic in the network:
Packet filtering refers to the analysis of small chunks of data. The firewall scrutinizes the header information which holds the source, destination IP addresses, and the ports. Packets or small bits of data that pass through the filters are sent to the requesting system while all the other data are rejected.
Proxy service. In the proxy service, the information or data from the Internet is reclaimed by the firewall and launched to the requesting system and from the requesting system to the firewall.
Stateful Inspection does not scrutinize the insides of the packets, rather, it evaluates key parts of the packet to the information in the trusted database.
Make sure that your computer runs with a firewall. If you can, you should also try using an all-in-one security suite such as an antivirus firewall software program that works both as virus protection and firewall.
