The Basic Function of a Computer Firewall

The word firewall is a very term in the world of computing. It is a part of a security of a computer or network but for today’s topic where going to focus a personal computer firewall. First what is a computer firewall, well it could be a software firewall or hardware firewall, wait a minute here this is getting to deep before we go any further let’s see what a firewall in general do or how does it gets to function. Firewall checks information coming from the Internet or a network and then either turns it away or allows it to pass through to your computer, depending on your firewall settings. In this way, a firewall helps prevent hackers and malicious software from gaining access to your computer. Windows Firewall is built into Windows and is turned on automatically.

The firewall has different settings depending on its work areas. For a firewall of a personal computer the general setting is usually determine by the owner which program is allowed or denied access to computer. Allowing a program to communicate through the firewall, sometimes called unblocking, is when you allow a particular program to send information through the firewall. You can also allow a program to communicate through the firewall by opening one or more ports. If you run a program such as an instant messaging program or a multi-player network game that needs to receive information from the Internet or a network, the firewall asks if you want to block or unblock (allow) the connection. If you choose to unblock the connection, Windows Firewall creates an exception so that the firewall won't bother you when that program needs to receive information in the future.

The recommended general default firewall settings are listed below:

·         The firewall is on.

·         The firewall is on for all network locations (Home or work, Public place, or Domain).

·         The firewall is on for all network connections.

·         The firewall is blocking all inbound connections except those that you specifically allowed.

·         E‑mail viruses

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The two items listed below are the two most common applications that a computer firewall can prevent from entering your computer. With the help of a properly set firewall the two items below can be prevented from infecting and gaining information from your computer.

E‑mail viruses

E‑mail viruses are attached to e‑mail messages. A firewall can't determine the contents of e‑mail messages, so it can't protect you from these types of viruses. You should use an antivirus program to scan and delete suspicious attachments from an e‑mail message before you open it. Even when you have an antivirus program, you should not open an e‑mail attachment if you're not positive it's safe.

Phishing scams

 

Phishing is a technique used to trick computer users into revealing personal or financial information, such as a bank account password. A common online phishing scam starts with an e‑mail message that appears to come from a trusted source, but actually directs recipients to provide information to a fraudulent website. Firewalls can't determine the contents of e‑mail messages, so they can't protect you from this type of attack.

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If I have a router with a built-in firewall, should I also turn on Windows Firewall?

Yes, because router-based firewalls only provide protection from computers on the Internet, not from computers on your home network. For example, if a mobile computer or guest computer connects to some other network, becomes infected with a computer worm, and then connects to your home network; your router-based firewall won't be able to prevent the spread of the worm. However, a firewall running on each computer on your network can help control the spread of worms.

However, running more than one firewall program on your computer at the same time could cause conflicts. It's best to just use one firewall program, in addition to a router-based firewall.

How do I know what security setting is right for my computer?

More often than usual our computer connects to different types of network in work places, school, public places and at home. We used this different network to access the internet and all of this network have different security setup. It is a must that we make sure to keep the security system of our personal computer from laptop, tablet, Smart phone to the personal computer always updated to prevent unwanted security breaches whenever we connect to all these different types of networks.

Below is the list of things for Windows Based systems that we need to check on to make sure our computer are properly secured.

Action Center

Use Action Center to make sure your firewall is on, your antivirus software is up to date, and you’re is computer set up to install updates automatically. 

Action Center checks several security and maintenance-related items of your computer that help indicate your computer's overall performance. When the status of a monitored item changes (for example, your antivirus software becomes out of date) Action Center notifies you with a message in the notification area on the taskbar, the status of the item in Action Center changes color to reflect the severity of the message, and an action is recommended.

To change which items Action Center checks:

1.       Click to open Action Center.

2.       Click Change Action Center settings.

3.       Select a check box to make Action Center check an item for changes or problems, or clear a check box to stop checking the item.

4.       Click OK.

If you prefer to keep track of an item yourself (for example, you use a backup program other than the one included in Windows, or you back up your files manually), and you don't want to see notifications about its status, you can turn off notifications for the item.  When you clear the check box for an item on the Change Action Center settings page, you won’t receive any messages, and you won’t see the item's status in Action Center. We recommend checking the status of all items listed, since many can help warn you about security issues. However, if you decide to turn off messages for an item, you can always turn messages back on. On the Change Action Center settings page, select the check box for the item and then click OK. Or, click the appropriate Turn on messages link next to the item on the main page.

Windows Defender

Use Windows Defender to prevent malicious software, like spyware or viruses, from infecting your computer. 

Using Windows Defender

Windows Defender is anti spyware software that's included with Windows and runs automatically when it's turned on. Using anti spyware software can help protect your computer against spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Spyware can be installed on your computer without your knowledge any time you connect to the Internet, and it can infect your computer when you install some programs using a CD, DVD, or other removable media. Spyware can also be programmed to run at unexpected times, not just when it's installed. Windows Defender offers two ways to help keep spyware from infecting your computer: Real-time protection.‍‍ Windows Defender alerts you when spyware attempts to install itself or to run on your computer. It also alerts you when programs attempt to change important Windows settings. 

Scanning options

You can use Windows Defender to scan for spyware that might be installed on your computer, to schedule scans on a regular basis, and to automatically remove anything that's detected during a scan.

When you use Windows Defender, it's important to have up-to-date definitions. Definitions are files that act like an ever-growing encyclopedia of potential software threats. Windows Defender uses definitions to alert you to potential risks if it determines that software detected is spyware or other potentially unwanted software. To help keep your definitions up to date, Windows Defender works with Windows Update to automatically install new definitions as they're released. You can also set Windows Defender to check online for updated definitions before scanning. 

User Account Control

User Account Control prompts you for your permission before installing software or opening certain kinds of programs that could potentially harm your computer or make it vulnerable to security threats.

What is User Account Control?

User Account Control (UAC) is a feature in Windows that can help you stay in control of your computer by informing you when a program makes a change that requires administrator-level permission. UAC works by adjusting the permission level of your user account. If you’re doing tasks that can be done as a standard user, such as reading e‑mail, listening to music, or creating documents, you have the permissions of a standard user—even if you’re logged on as an administrator.

When changes are going to be made to your computer that requires administrator-level permission, UAC notifies you. If you are an administrator, you can click yes to continue. If you are not an administrator, someone with an administrator account on the computer will have to enter their password for you to continue. If you give permission, you are temporarily given the rights of an administrator to complete the task and then your permissions are returned back to that of a standard user. This makes it so that even if you're using an administrator account, changes cannot be made to your computer without you knowing about it, which can help prevent malicious software (malware) and spyware from being installed on or making changes to your computer. When your permission or password is needed to complete a task, UAC will notify you with one of four different types of dialog boxes. 

It is recommended that you log on to your computer with a standard user account most of the time. You can browse the Internet, send e‑mail, and use a word processor, all without an administrator account. When you want to perform an administrative task, such as installing a new program or changing a setting that will affect other users, you don't have to switch to an administrator account; Windows will prompt you for permission or an administrator password before performing the task. We also recommend that you create standard user accounts for all the people who use your computer.

Then we have Backup and Restore, Windows Update and Windows Firewall all this five components should be enough to determine the correct security setting for your computer.