Firewall protection keeps your computer safe from intrusion by hackers while it is connected to the internet. It does so by examining the electronic data coming in to and out of your computer.
What is firewall protection?
Basically, a good firewall provides protection from prying eyes. It stops thieves and intruders from accessing your computer, laptop, workstation or server, and a good firewall can protect your computer from malicious ‘worms’.
A firewall also prevents confidential information on your system from being sent from your computer without your permission. This could be your passwords, bank details and other personal information.
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Firewall protection from identity theft
Consequently, a good firewall goes a long way to protect you from ‘identity thieves’ – internet hackers who can break into vulnerable computer systems and steal private files, credit card information, tax records, passwords and identification or reference numbers. Remote thieves can even hijack your system to send spam messages, or plant destructive viruses.
What does a firewall do?
So what does a firewall actually do? Quite simply put, a firewall protects your computer from intrusion (scanning or attack) by hackers while it is connected to the Internet. A firewall examines electronic data coming in to, or out of, a computer (or network) and compares it to rules it has been given. If that data matches the rules which say it is OK, it will let the data pass. If it doesn't, it blocks the data.
Think of a firewall as a piece of software that keeps the bad guys out and lets the good ones in.
What a firewall does NOT do?
A firewall, however, will not give you full security and make you completely safe online. It is one of the first lines of defence, but on it's own it will not protect you 100%. That’s why an internet security suite includes several other pieces of software as well.
Some of the things that a firewall will NOT DO are:
• Protect you against most viruses
• Protect you against spam
• Protect you against a poorly configured Wireless Network
• Protect you against spyware installations (it prevents spyware actions, although the spyware may still be present in your computer)
Read our security articles and learn more:
What is a firewall?
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