A firewall filters the information coming through the Internet
connection into your computer, permitting communication only with
sources you know and trust. It helps prevent unauthorized access,
protecting your home network and family from potential hackers and
offensive websites. If you do not have a firewall installed on your computer, any
personal information stored on your computer or distributed using
the web may be accessed by a hacker for as long as your computer is
connected to the Internet. This is especially true for high-speed
Internet connections, which generally maintain the same network
address, increasing the window of opportunity for attack (a dial-up
connection uses a different network address every time it
connects). - Restrict traffic that travels through your
firewall by only granting access to those programs and/or
traffic that you are familiar with.
- If you do not share files or documents with other computers on
your network, disable the File Sharing feature.
Doing so will prevent others from being able to download or view
your files or documents.
|
