Have you heard about that new virus that just came out? But you’re not worried because you have a firewall? A common misconception among computer users is that firewalls block viruses. me out but But here is the scary news…they don’t!

A firewall is software-based or hardware-based protection that blocks malicious attacks on your computer from coming through over the internet. But don’t viruses come over the internet so a firewall should block them correct? You’re right, but the difference is that viruses and spyware infect your computer by human interaction done on your part. Meaning, you might view an infected picture or visit a bad website, or open up an infected email for example. Anti-virus software protects you from these situations, but not a firewall.

So what is a firewall you ask? Computers have ports that they can communicate through…65,535 to be exact. A firewall will block communication to every one of those ports except the ones you specify it unblock. For example, if you connect to your company VPN from on your computer, you would only need port 1723 unblocked. By blocking all ports but port 1723, a hacker only has 1 port to try to hack through instead of trying to hack 65,535 ports. This just made his job MUCH harder!
The good news is with today’s technology you probably already have a firewall protecting your computer. Most routers (either wired or wireless) that connect to your broadband modem come with a firewall. By default, routers have the firewall turned on, but check the router settings to make sure it is currently protecting your network. If it’s not enabled, enable it and then specify the ports you want to have open.

What if you don't have a router? In Windows XP and Windows Vista, they both come with a software firewall installed. Software firewalls do the same thing as hardware firewalls but may not have the advanced features such as logging activity or notifying you if it suspects harmful activity. However, software firewalls are better than no firewall at all.

I’ll install several firewalls on my computer so I’m protected better!! This is a myth and is not correct. As I previously stated, firewalls close all ports but ones you specify, adding another firewall to your network just means you have to specify on that firewall the ports you need open. So two firewalls doing the same thing will not protect you any better but just slow down your network since data being transmitted through your network is having to be looked at by both firewalls, therefore I highly recommend you make sure your not running two or more firewalls.

While I prefer hardware based firewalls because of the advanced features they have, I have seen some very good software based firewalls. Hardware firewalls I prefer are WatchGuard, SonicWALL, Untangle, Check Point and Netgear. While software firewalls I recommend are ZoneAlarm, Norton and McAfee. No matter who you choose, you can rest assured that you’re making the life of a hacker a lot harder!

If you would like some help on selecting and installing a firewall, be sure to check out http://www.fastsupportonline.com/security/firewall_setup_and_support.html