A “Fire Wall” or firewall is used to protect the internal network from unauthorized access that can be attempted from the Internet or a local area network (LAN) and can exploit vulnerabilities in the internal network of systems. Firewalls can disguise the identity of your computer for intrusion attempts or scan of your computer by hackers and does not return the type of information they need to facilitate the invasion of your computer.
There are 2 types of Firewalls: Software and Hardware
1. Software firewalls . Protect a personal computer from malicious and undesirable packets (small bits of information) from entering into Network Interface Card (NIC, for its acronym in English), where computers are connected to the Internet and local networks ( LAN, for its acronym in English).
Some operating systems (OS, for its acronym in English) have Firewall software pre-installed on the computer to protect against these attacks and to control unauthorized access. Also you can buy another Firewall separately. Although this could create conflicts with existing Firewall. You should make sure that your firewall is active in your OS like Window XP, Vista etc. Usually this Firewall is enabled by manufacturer, but sometimes may be disabled because of various reasons.
2. Hardware firewalls. They are more expensive and complex to manage and configure than software firewalls. Hardware firewalls are better suited for businesses and residences that have multiple computers connected to the same network.
Benefits of Firewalls
- Prevent attacks on your private network by the other networks outside the world.
- It allows you to define a funnel, keeping aside the non-authorized users.
- Allow monitoring the security of your network and computer when suspicious activity occurs, it will generate an alarm.
- Monitor and record services using WWW (World Wide Web), FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and other protocols.
- Control the use of Internet. It helps to block or un-block inappropriate or appropriate material.
How to tell if your firewall is enabled and how to activate
- Press Start
- Click Control Panel
- Click Security or Security Center
- Click Windows Firewall or Firewall
If that says Firewall is on, all is well otherwise press Windows Firewall or Windows Firewall On or Turn Off to the left of the window and activate it.
Note: Periodically check if your firewall is turned off as this could get disabled without their consent.
This Guest Post is composed by Greg Salter who is regularly writing about techniques to update android phones. He is also well-equipped about the knowledge of rooting android mobiles.
19 Comments
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Ayesha
January 23, 2012 at 2:38 pm
I have activated my firewall. And thanks to these tips! Very useful and informative.
Firewall Defence
January 24, 2012 at 9:45 am
Firewall’s play a main role in internet security and I am using COMODO Firewall and its being so good and am satisfied using it.
Danny
January 24, 2012 at 10:23 am
I heard that the build in firewall of windows 8 is going to be a lot better than what windows 7 has.
Which would be great, so we don’t need any extra software installed for that.
Tony
January 24, 2012 at 10:50 am
I don’t like hardware firewalls – beside they are expensive and need space, I find it hard to install and upgrade them. I already had the software firewall activated, which I find it quite useful.
Tracyann0312
January 24, 2012 at 11:51 am
I will try the information you stated. Thanks for the tips on how to install firewall. I can now activate my firewall to protect my computer from malicious attacks!
Stan
January 24, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Since there are lots of stupid stuffs that could penetrate and broke our
computers, it is important for us to guard our machines. As a result,
firewall protection should be taken into consideration. Great you’ve
showed us how to activate firewall.
Susane
January 24, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Thanks a lot! I finally understood what this firewall thing is all about 🙂
Susane
jessietaylor92
January 25, 2012 at 5:25 am
Thanks for the additional ideas regarding with the firewall. Thanks a lot.
John
January 25, 2012 at 7:21 am
Getting firewall protection for the businesses and residence is a must! It acts like a wall in between the intruders and our pc. I think you have taken a good point to make people aware of one of the basic security measure for their pc or their private network. I think it is better and also cheap to take precautionary measures rather than to sit and curse the intruder later.
Catherine67
January 25, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Hi Greg! Thanks for sharing this info… I am not aware of checking the firewall occasionally if it is turned off. I thought once it is on it will stay that way unless I turned it off. Now am aware that it can be disable without consent. Thanks!
Joe
January 27, 2012 at 8:22 pm
I have installed some good firewalls but they don’t always protect you. Sometimes you need more than just a firewall because when we update our firewalls the hackers out there update there malware, bots and viruses.
Prakash
January 29, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Firewall are very important otherwise some of the sites are restricted you to access their site. I have faced this problem. Thanks for this interesting and useful article.
Nicholle Olores
January 30, 2012 at 12:59 am
I agree. Firewall protection is really important but sometimes I use to turned off my Firewall and now I know how it is important to have. Thanks for the reminders!
julia
February 3, 2012 at 9:16 am
Well Firewall plays an important role for the protection of pc but all firewalls cannot detect viruses. I recommend its use because it prevents the unauthorized use of network. I am individual home user therefore I just use software firewall for the protection of my PC. Your post is helpful for those people who don’t understand the necessity and importance of firewall. Thanks for the awareness of firewalls protection.
Roy Fernandez
May 9, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Oh god! There is so much to learn! Thanks for these posts, these kick start my learning curve.
Michelle
May 23, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Good point. I’ve spent plenty of time just relying on my Windows firewall till I had a revelation and got myself extra protection. Now I’m for COMODO, but I like testing them.
Ryan
August 2, 2012 at 6:19 am
The basic windows firewall is good enough, however I recommend COMODO for firewall protection. A free antivirus and free firewall is all you need to really get your security set up. Good tips on this blog post. Computer Repair Santa Clarita
Navin
April 1, 2015 at 12:48 pm
A must know. Thanks for sharing
Alex Dean
June 14, 2017 at 7:31 pm
It’s good to know that when it comes to a website having a firewall installed that there are actual benefits to having them. I like how you pointed that it will really help with me being able to control the settings on my family’s computer. It will make me feel better knowing that I don’t have to worry about my kid’s accidentally going onto websites that they shouldn’t be on.