Some simple facts about Windows firewalls
A firewall is a level one security barrier consisting of a combination of hardware and software that limits the exposure of a computer or computer network to unauthorized access and exposure to Internet threats in the form of crackers, viruses, worms, hackers computers and others. bad intentions. A firewall is the most basic and important first step in layered security that home and small business computers can take.
Without a firewall-protected computer, once you get online and start surfing the Internet, all of the aforementioned things and more are highly bound to happen. Unauthorized people or vicious software programs can farm your computer files for personal information, destroy files, install malicious code strings, hijack your computer to create problems for other computers or a computer network and a supply endless number of harmful events that you could unfortunately discover. too late or; you may not even realize it. So it goes without saying that you need a firewall on your PC.
It is not the intent of American Industry Maintenance (AIM), LLC to endorse scare tactics, but rather to continue to be an advocate for consumer awareness. That is why it is important for you to know that if you already have a Windows Vista or Windows XP operating platform (Home or Professional) with service Pack 2 (SP2) installed on your computer, you have a firewall installed as a feature of these programs. If you have a different version of Windows (Millennium (ME), 2000, 98), you really need to get a hardware or software firewall setup from a vendor and install it before connecting to the Internet again.
If you’re not sure which Windows operating platform your computer is running, you can find out right away by following these steps;
- Click beginningand then click Run.
- In the Run dialog type winner. Click OK.
Another dialog box will appear announcing the version of Windows software that is installed on your computer system. If you find that you have Windows Vista or Windows XP with SP2 installed, you can reasonably assume (if you didn’t change any settings) that Windows Firewall is turned on by default before it left the factory.
It is not enough to know that you have a firewall, it must be enabled to operate and take the security measures for which it was designed. Although you may think this is an inappropriate comment or just plain common sense, the October 2007 McAfee/NCSA Cyber Security Survey found that only 73% of Americans thought they had a firewall and of that percentage; only 64% had their firewalls enabled. So the sad reality was that only 4% of Americans understood firewalls “fully” and more than 4 in 10 Americans (44%) did not understand how a firewall works.
If you have Windows Vista or Windows XP with SP2 installed and you are not really sure if the firewall is enabled, you can take the following steps to check it;
- Open Windows Firewall by clicking the beginning button clicking Control Panelclicking Security and finally, Windows firewall.
- Click Turn Windows Firewall on or off. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. You should know that if you have not set up an administrator account, the default administrator account (factory setting) has the username: Administrator and the key code has not been established and should be left blank.
- Click on (Recommended) and then click okay.
Now that you have your firewall installed or enabled, it’s important to remember that this is a first-rate proactive security measure. A firewall is not a general preventative measure. A firewall won’t prevent email viruses like a Trojan horse, which is a piece of software that seems useful but is ultimately benign and by design tricks you into opening and downloading it and receiving the chaos that follows. Other viruses, spyware, pop-up ads, spam, and phishing scams are not prevented by the use of a firewall. A firewall can help protect a PC on a wireless network; but you can’t restrict access to the network itself. As a security measure, you should set up a wireless network that uses Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) with a Network Key or Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEB).
To establish fairly complete layered PC security, you should also install a good antivirus program and antispyware program or a security package that includes all of these measures within one software package. Firewalls, spyware, antivirus, pop-up blockers, malware removers, and complete security suites along with registry repair software from leading global vendors are available for review and download at Registryfixing(dot)com.
If you want to be safe on the Internet, you should avoid identity theft and review software security and optimization measures designed to protect you.