Importance of Firewalls

If your computer isn’t part of a network or does not connect to the Internet at all, then firewalls aren’t a big deal. But if you are connected to a network or the Internet, you are opening certain “ports” of your computer to send and receive data from other computers or places on the Web.

The data that is being received isn’t always good and it may come in the form of an attack by a hacker that is connected to you. Some websites may freely and secretly send data to your system without knowing. Those that are infected with viruses can also send information like spam e-mails, leaked passwords, and stolen personal data. These acts can also be stopped by a properly configured firewall.

Features of Firewalls

The most basic feature that is present in all firewalls is the ability to close certain ports that applications take advantage of. For example, FTP uses port 21 while remote access uses port 5800. If you want to prevent these applications from accessing the Internet or sending data over the network, you can do that by setting up your firewall. The best computer firewall protection software are complete with more features like intelligent blocking of suspicious programs and better resistance to hacks and viruses that try to disable them.

Best Firewall Solutions

Windows XP, Vista, and the upcoming Windows 7 all have firewalls and should be enabled by default. Although their protection fairly works on basic attacks, advanced attacks tend to go around these firewalls because they are widely used amongst average users. Therefore, it is often better to install a 3rd party firewall solution for advanced protection.

Most internet security suites developed by popular companies like Symantec, McAfee, ESET, and Kaspersky all have firewall solutions. With the exception of Kaspersky, most of them under perform because the bulk of their features are more concentrated on virus removal.

Individual firewall software like Jetico Personal Firewall are far better performers than the most of the ones that are included in bundled security suites. The absolute best of the best firewalls are surprisingly freeware including Comodo Internet Security and Outpost Firewall Free 2009. These effectively block a large majority of attacks that are known to bypass other firewalls.

Give these two programs a try if you feel that your Windows firewall or security suite isn’t doing their job. You can actually use any firewall that you are comfortable with because the user interface of each varies. The most important thing is that you have a firewall active so your system has some security up to a certain degree.