How to Keep your Computer Running
Quickly & Securely

Table of Contents

Firewalls

Broadband connections are great due to their speed. No more dialling in and slow connections and download speeds. However, they’re usually always on and that means your computer may be visible to the rest of the world, including hackers out to either harm your computer or use your computer to harm other computers. To protect your computer from hackers and some malicious software you should install a firewall. A firewall serves two purposes – it prevents others from connecting to your computer and prevents any rogue programs on your computer from sending information to other computers without you knowing.

Some hardware, like a router, contains its own built-in firewall. These are perfectly adequate but can require significant tweaking as they are set up to block any incoming attempts (no good if you use peer-to-peer and/or messaging software) and allow all outgoing communications – a risk if a malicious program has made it’s way onto your PC without you knowing.

Windows XP comes with its own firewall which you can set by going to Start / Control Panel / Security Center. To get to the setting for Windows Firewall, click “Windows Firewall” below “Manage security settings for:” You can then set which programs are to be allowed to communicate with your computer, if you know where the program is within your Windows directory.

One of most popular free firewalls is ZoneAlarm which can be downloaded at www.zonelabs.com. The link to their Free ZoneAlarm is at the bottom of their Home & Home Office Products page. It’s very easy to use as it will notify you any time a new program tries to access the internet. You then simply decide then if it’s a program you want to allow to send data (i.e. web explorers, automatic updating software, FTP programs, etc) out over the internet and/or receive data from the internet (i.e. peer-to-peer, instant messaging software, etc). The free version has less functionality (but should be perfectly adequate for most home users) than the Pro version which can also be found at www.zonelabs.com.

Another popular free firewall is called Outpost – available at www.agnitum.com at the bottom of their Products page. Developers from around the world contribute to keeping Outpost as fast, flexible and innovative as possible. Again, there is Pro version is available for purchase (found at www.agnitum.com) which has even more powerful features than the free version.

Other firewall programs include:
AVG Anti-Virus plus Firewall
BitDefender Internet Security and BitDefender Antivirus Plus
Kaspersky Internet Security
MicroWorld eConceal

A search for “firewall” on www.download.com will provide you with even more firewall programs.

For more information on firewalls, we’d also recommend the following sites:
www.free-firewall.org
www.howstuffworks.com/firewall.htm

A good firewall is the first step in securing your PC. The next is a good anti-virus program.