TechBlog

Is your firewall enabled on your computer? Can you actually say yes with certainty? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to check. There are a number of software applications which interact with your firewall. They have the capability of enabling, disabling, or configuring it for you. So how can you be sure it’s running as it should?

Many many viruses spread themselves by infecting computers which haven’t been protected by a firewall. Windows users need to be sure to check their settings (Vista / XP) as do Mac users. In fact, Apple doesn’t enable the firewall on your Mac by default. Foolish if you ask me. Check out those links to learn where your firewall settings are. Keep in mind though, that enabling it might not be good enough. Look at the list of exceptions (applications allowed to bypass the firewall) and make sure you don’t see anything fishy there. If you don’t know what an application is, disable it and see if anything breaks.

Having a firewall active is very important for your computer’s security. And here’s a related tip: if you have broadband access at home, protect your entire network with a router. Though routers are designed to share your internet connection with more than one computer, nearly all broadband routers have firewalls built in. That’s a quick, easy, and cheap way to make sure your network is secure!