Network Security guide for the home or small business network – Part 2 – A Software Firewall
Do I really need a hardware firewall? I’m running XP Service Pack 2 with the built in firewall? (or norton, or zonealarm?) Well, personal firewalls (the name that software firewalls go by) are good for a great many things that hardware firewalls AREN’T. They do have their limitations though and I’ll try to cover those in this post. Of course, a software firewall is running on the pc that you use to connect to the internet and one of the functions it serves is to “close the doors and windows” or those open ports that a computer can listen for connections on.
The disadvantage of a personal firewall is a very big one. It’s VERY susceptible to being disabled. I had a user once that I had setup with a personal firewall and one time I visited to investigate a possible virus and noticed that the firewall wasn’t running. I was told that “something popped up asking me to turn it off, so I did.” I wondered if a thief came up to the door and asked them to quit using the deadbolt if they would do so. Unfortunately, it’s essentially the same thing. However, let’s say you get a malicious attachment in email that you click, that can disable your firewall. Or, the more mundane breach, a program ran and tried to act as a server and you said “ok”, then you have open ports listening for connections.
Now, you might be thinking software firewalls are useless…. but no they’re not. They do have their place. One very useful aspect is their ability to control programs access to the internet and notify you when a program has changed or requests access to the internet for the first time. The only problem is that you have to have an idea of what programs may need to use the internet to be able to make a good judgement. Zonealarm was typically a “noisy” firewall in the sense that if you opened Internet Explorer it would say “Iexplore is attempting to access the internet. Is that ok?” etc. Like I said, you will need to learn what is normal to make good decisions here. Mail programs, network utilities, web browsers all typically need to access the internet. They RARELY need to act as a server (actually listen for inbound connections).
Are personal firewalls essential? Let me put it this way. You should have a hardware firewall. If you don’t, then a software firewall can “make do” until you get a hardware firewall. Once your network is protected by a true hardware firewall, software firewalls can still be useful. (Allowing/disallowing programs from accessing the network/internet and protecting pcs from other machines on the internal lan.) If you have a small LAN with trusted access (and no wireless) it may be less of a priority to keep a software firewall. They can make networking machines a bit more tempermental. Also, if they don’t “remember” that iexplore (internet explorer) and the like are allowed to access the internet they can be pesky and tedious.
On a larger LAN, or network with laptops coming and going from home/other networks and with possible public wireless access or other groups of untrusted access… YES use software firewalls.
Don’t install and use just anything that pops up from an ad online. Read (not just from their site, but search for the name of the product and find third-party information.) I once de-installed a program that claimed to be a firewall but in fact had left dozens of ports open to the outside world. Also it’s worth keeping in mind how “noisy” a firewall is. Will it ask for users to answer a question everytime they start a program or will it be fairly quiet?
Popularity: 1% [?]
Related Posts - How to Remove Antivirus PC 2009 | Antivirus PC 2009 Removal Guide Antivirus PC 2009 is a rogue antivirus application that is installed through malware and other nefarious means. Once installed on your system it will complain about security problems on your system. It will scan and claim that there are viruses on your computer. Like most all of these rogue antivirus......
- Network Security guide for the home or small business network - Part 1 - A Hardware firewall Computers can communicate over networks. (Surprise!) That's how you're reading this post. The machine that this site is hosted on is listening for requests for connection. When it receives a request it answers back with a web page. In fact, computers can listen for a great many different kinds of......
- Network Security guide for the home or small business network - Part 20 heterogeneous networks One thing I've already mentioned in this serious is using alternative programs like Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, or Thunderbird, Eduora instead of Outlook Express. Even if you're not using alternative software as your primary web browser, email program there are advantages to having networks with mixed software, operating......
Related Websites - Internet Network Marketing - Connect Conform Control Internet Network Marketing - I am gonna get all internal on you :) [/caption] In my martial art we focus on understanding the flow of energy so to speak. I am gonna make a connection for you with internet network marketing. In order to achieve control in your business you......
- Spyware: The New Annoying Threat A friend called me one day, frustrated out of his mind that his computer was acting very strange. When he opened his Internet Explorer, it sent him to a strange site and pop-up windows kept covering his screen. He even complained about the performance of his Intel Pentium 4 computer......
- Internet Network Marketing - Trends For 2011 Internet Network Marketing - Goodbye 2010 Image by [ Mooi ] via Flickr It has been a crazy year, than again every year is a crazy year wouldn't you agree? What has been really awesome is the fact that it is going to be 2011 and internet network marketing is......
Similar Posts
- Network Security guide for the home or small business network – Part 1 – A Hardware firewall
- Network Security guide for the home or small business network – Part 4 – Know your software
- Testing your firewall for open ports
- Firewall Software
- Network Security guide for the home or small business network – Part 6 – Secure your services