Firewall
A firewall is a piece of hardware or software package that 'sit' between your computer and the Internet. A firewall monitors all inbound and outbound Internet traffic between your computer and the Internet. Any suspicious behavior like unauthorized access to or from your computer will be flagged or block. We can say that a firewall is your computer's first line of defense against hackers and various types of malware. All firewalls can define a set of access control rules that how you going to protect your computer. Any communication between your computer and the Internet does not conform to the access control rules will be blocked. Access control rules can be either pre default setting (for novice) or can be customize by users (advance).
Type of firewall
There are two types of Firewall – hardware and software. Hardware Firewall is use in the external environment while software one is install in your computer. Each has it owns advantage or disadvantage.
Hardware Firewall is an external device that positioned between your computer or network and your cable or DSL modem. One of the advantage of the hardware Firewall, it can protect multiple computers in a network environment and offer certain level of protection to single computer. The other advantage is that it is a single device which run at it own operating system offer the first line of defend against intruders. The main disadvantage is the price of the unit, it may be costly to get one. Hardware Firewall cannot protect the individual computers in the network if one of the computers in the network is infected with viruses, worm or other malicious code; you may need extra protection of a software firewall or personal firewall. Now most of the cable or DSL modem includes a built-in Firewall, you are advised to get this type of modem.
Software Firewall or personal Firewall is a program that installed or come with the operating system. If your operating system has a built-in Firewall, consider enable it to add other layer of protection even you have a external Firewall installed. You can also obtain software from vendor like ZoneLABs or Checkpoint , they have a very good software firewall product call ZoneAlarm PRO and they also have a free vision from home user, consider getting one install.
Configuration - things to know
Most firewall products, both hardware and software based come with a default setting configuration which is acceptably secure for most users. If you need to configure to suit your need, you need to consult the manual or online documentation as different firewalls have different configuration parameters. . Another point to take note if you configure firewall “too strictly”, you may block legitimate data from access the Internet so you must take this into consideration when setting up the Firewall rules.
One word of caution
Although firewall provide you a certain level of protection but firewall do not guarantee that your computer will not be attacked. This is because Firewalls offer little to no protection against viruses. The best advice is use firewall conjunction with antivirus software to strengthen your computer resistance to attacks.
Choosing a firewall
There are many firewalls avaiable in the market or Internet. All have theirs own features, functions, prices, strengths, and weaknesses. But the selection come down to individual needs for security level desired.