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Security is a major concern when surfing the 'Net. When you’re connected, your computer looks like a house that have windows and doors opened at night which burglars loves the most. It is the same thing on your computer. As you surf, your computer opens its “doors” to have data in and out of your computer. This happens all the time. What you might not notice is that there are hackers out there looking at your PC’s door and trying to find out if your system have vulnerabilities so that they can perform nasty dirty tricks like stealing your files or even corrupting your system just like a nasty virus. To prevent this from happening, you must have a personal firewall.
A firewall is a security system intended to protect an organization's network against external threats, such as hackers, coming from another network, such as the Internet. A firewall prevents computers in the organization's network from communicating directly with computers external to the network and vice versa. Instead, all communication is routed through a proxy server outside of the organization's network, and the proxy server decides whether it is safe to let a particular message or file pass through to the organization's
network.¹
There are two kinds of firewalls: software-based and hardware-based. For beginners and home users, a software firewall is enough to perform basic security tasks. I recommend Zone Lab’s ZoneAlarm personal firewall. It is free, reliable, and a must have for every home user. But if you want more security like for offices and networks, buying a hardware-based firewall is a must. Hardware-based firewalls have more security features than the software-based and can perform more robust and complex security tasks. Linksys makes good and reliable hardware-based firewalls.
Firewalls can also speed-up your connection because it filters programs in your machine that automatically run when you’re connected. It is up to the user which program will execute. A good example of this is Windows Update feature if you have Windows ME.
As the Internet gets to complex, it is a good habit to have a personal firewall while surfing.
¹Microsoft
Press® Computer and Internet Dictionary © & ℗
1997, 1998 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved. Portions,
The Microsoft Press® Computer Dictionary, 3rd Edition,
Copyright © 1997 by Microsoft Press. All rights reserved.
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