Firewall

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Electronic Communication and Computer Security >>
Using a Personal Firewall

A personal firewall is like a safety net around your computer. When connected to the Internet, your computer is vulnerable to intruders and attacks that may jeopardize your files. Firewalls also protect your personal and financial information from the prying eyes of hackers and data thieves, who have the ability to break into your computer. Whether you are on a dial-up modem, cable modem, or have a personal computer on campus, a personal firewall is as important as installing anti-virus software.

A downloadable personal firewall program, called ZoneAlarm, is available for free for individual use on Windows and can be downloaded from http://www.zonelabs.com. A good program for the Macintosh is Intego's Net Barrier at http://www.intego.com/. Symantec also offers Personal Firewall programs for both Windows and Macintosh at http://www.norton.com.

Be careful about having more than one anti-virus software installed or having a firewall option set to check incoming email for viruses in addition to using an anti-virus program. Having more than one program scan for viruses at the same time may create conflicts on your computer. If you install ZoneAlarm, for example, you may want to turn off its "mailsafe" option if you already have an anti-virus software program scanning your incoming email. You should have no problem with conflicts if you do this. Having both a firewall and anti-virus software installed is highly recommended.

You have now completed all the sections in the Electronic Communication & Computer Security module. Return to the main page for this module to review the assignment requirements. To return there, click on "Electronic Communication and Computer Security" at the top of this page or click here.