Question:
How can a firewall protect my computer?
Denial of Service Attack
Firewalls offer internet security from many different kinds of attacks. One kind you may have heard in the news is a "denial of service" attack. This type of attack is extremely difficult to counter. What happens is that the hacker sends a request to computer asking to connect to it. When the server responds with an acknowledgement and tries to establish a session, it cannot find the system that made the request. By inundating a computer with these unanswerable session requests, a hacker causes it to slow to a crawl or eventually crash.
Keeping the Outside World Out of Your Computer
One of the best things about a firewall from a computer security standpoint is that it stops anyone on the outside from logging onto a computer in your private network. While this is a big deal for businesses, most home networks will probably not be threatened in this manner. Still, putting personal firewall software in place provides some peace of mind.
Statefull Inspection
A newer method used by firewalls is called "stateful inspection". Instead of examining the chunks of data coming through the network, a stateful inspection firewall compares certain key parts of the packet to a database of trusted information. Information traveling from inside the firewall to the outside is monitored for specific defining characteristics, then incoming information is compared to these characteristics. If the comparison yields a reasonable match, the information is allowed through. Otherwise it is discarded.
Firewall Protection Against Trojan Viruses
Most anti-virus internet security software and firewalls can handle most of the well known Trojans, but none are perfect. You absolutely must make sure you have the very latest update files for your programs, or else they will miss the latest Trojans. Compared to traditional viruses, Trojans evolve much quicker and come in many seemingly innocuous forms, so anti-virus software is always going to be playing catch up. Also, if they fail to find every Trojan, anti-virus software can give you a false sense of computer security, such that you go about your business not realizing that you are still dangerously compromised. You also should not temp fate. Never open an attachment on an email if you don't know what it is.
Firewalls and Protocol
Another way firewalls restrict access is by using protocols. A protocol is a means by which machines communicate. For instance, the letters "http" in a web address stand for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Certain protocols are more secure than others, and some are used frequently by a human to communicate with a remote machine. These protocols are the ones misused by hackers, so some personal firewalls simply restrict the number of protocols to those less likely to be used by a hacker.
How Does Firewall Software Work?
How does firewall software work? There are a number of firewall screening methods. A simple one is to screen requests to make sure they come from acceptable (previously identified) domain names and IP addresses. For mobile users, personal firewalls allow remote access in to the private network by the use of secure logon procedures and authentication certificates.
Firewall Software
The only way to make your computer completely secure is to turn it off or disconnect it from the Internet. Since that is counterproductive, the questions becomes, "how to make your computer 99% secure when it is connected?" Not having protection is like leaving your car running with the doors unlocked and the keys in it which a thief might interpret as "please steal me". Locking a car, using a "club" or installing a security system makes stealing a car more difficult. Internet security software, firewall software and privacy products provide adequate protection by making it difficult for "outlaws" to find and gain entry to your computer.
What is a Firewall?
What is a firewall? Firewall software is a set of related programs, located at a network gateway server, that protects the resources of a private network from users from other networks. Basically, a firewall, working closely with a router program, internet filters all network traffic to determine whether to forward them toward their destination. A personal firewall is often installed away from the rest of the network so that no incoming request can get directly at private network resources.
Source Routing
In most cases, the path that data travels over the Internet (or any other network) is determined by the routers along that path. But the source providing the data can arbitrarily specify the route that the data should travel. This is called "source routing." Hackers sometimes take advantage of this to make information appear to come from a trusted source or even from inside the network! Most firewall products disable source routing as a matter of course.
Internet Safety Frequently Asked Questions
Can I filter internet content about drugs and alcohol?
Can I filter content about hate and criminal behavior?
What are some of the filtering criteria offered by internet filtering?
Can internet filtering block good or informational websites?
What can an internet report show me?
What are features I should look for in a spam filter?
Why should I use a porn blocker?
Why is a porn blocker so important?
How did computer hacking start?
What can you tell me about hackers?
What are computer viruses and how do they work?
What is a Trojan Horse program and how does it work?
How can I protect myself from viruses and Trojan horse programs?
How can I protect my computer's data?
What should I do if I think my computer is infected by a virus?
How can a firewall protect my computer?
How do I stop unauthorized access to my computer?
How have computer viruses evolved?
How do I make sure my password is secure?
What are computer viruses and how do they work?
How can I protect myself from viruses and Trojan horse programs?
What organizations exist to help combat computer crime?
How can a firewall protect my computer?
How can I protect myself from viruses and Trojan horse programs?
How can a firewall protect my computer?
How did computer hacking start?
What organizations exist to help combat computer crime?
How can I protect myself from viruses and Trojan horse programs?
How have computer viruses evolved?
What can you tell me about hackers?
How can I keep spam out of my mailbox?
What is spyware and how do I stop it?
How can a firewall protect my computer?
| Guru Spotlight |
| Sherril Steele-Carlin |
