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| Firewalls are extremely technical in nature. Implementations can vary widely and larger companies may have entire departments dedicated to the selections, implementations, maintenance and monitoring of firewalls. Our goal here is to educated, not confuse, so we will only scratch the surface of what a firewall can do. |
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| A firewall can be a device or a software program running on a PC. In the case of a network, the firewall sits between your network and the internet. In the case of single PC, the firewall may be a software program running on your PC or a device sitting between your PC and the internet. A firewall is intended to filter traffic flowing between your network and the internet with the goal of reducing your computer’s vulnerability to the hazards of the internet. |
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| Firewalls range from those that provide the basics of filtering certain types of traffic to high-end firewalls providing sophisticated filtering tools, comprehensive monitoring tools that notify you if certain criteria are net indication a potential threat and can even re-route traffic in the case of a lost internet connections. Firewalls may also have related features added on, including content filtering (limiting access to sites deemed inappropriate), virus detection and virtual private networks. (VPNs). |
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| Microsoft has put together a 5-minute Security Advisor describing the basics of firewalls. To read it, click here. If you have a single WindowsXP computer that connects to the internet, we recommend you read this article and follow the steps for enabling the internet Connection Firewall (ICF) built into WindowsXP. If your computer has an older operating system, we recommend you download and install ZoneAlarm, a free software- based firewall for individual computers. |
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| Since firewalls range so dramatically in capabilities and price for office networks, we will not make any recommendations here. If you would like to discuss your specific requirements, please call us at 732-1161. |
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