Important Facts About Windows Firewall

Important Facts About Windows Firewall

With the current wave of cybercrimes and security bridges on the Internet, a lot of people are looking for ways to ensure that they stay safe from spammers and hackers while connected to the Internet.

Windows firewall is a critical part of the security system in a computer that is designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network.

Just like the physical wall, which protects individuals from theft and unauthentic entry, the firewall protects the system’s internal network from malicious spamming.

Here are some of the most important facts you need to know about the Windows firewall to ensure you are using this security component in your computer system the right way.

How a Windows Firewall Works

The Windows firewall works based on a defined set of rules made by the computer network administrator.

As stated earlier, the basic function of the firewall is to prevent unauthorized access to a computer network.

However, the network administrator will have to define some of the rules for the firewall to ensure that all messages leaving or entering the network are properly scrutinized, and those that do not meet the required security criteria are blocked out.

Firewall protection is basically achieved by setting inbound traffic rules that are based on certain port numbers, IP addresses, time, server port numbers, etc.

Now, will discuss each set of these security rules:

• Firewall packet filtering

You can set up your firewall in a way to ensure that only authorized packets of data are allowed to flow through your network.

In other words, any packet of data that is unwanted based on the defined rule is entirely blocked and dropped by the firewall.

• Firewall inspection filtering

Firewall inspection filtering is yet another important feature of the security component on your computer network system.

Inspection can be achieved by setting the firewall to inspect each set of data that flows through the system to ensure that they meet the required criteria.

For example, the firewall can be set to inspect email that contains certain vulgar languages and prevent them from flowing inbound into the computer network.

• Firewall proxy filtering

Firewall proxy filtering is one of the most authentic network protection strategies offered by the firewall.

Firewall proxy filtering makes it possible for the network administrator to make a connection using a proxy, that way, it makes it entirely difficult for an attacker to discover the network since they are not getting information from the network directly.

This helps to prevent the main network from targeted attacks.

• Firewall IP address blocking

Firewall IP address setting can be used to block access into your network based on the IP address of the device which tends to send messages into your computer network.

This simply works by denying access to your network by blacklisting IP addresses from the untrusted or unidentified networks.

For example, IP addresses from countries that are breeding spot for cybercrimes can be totally blocked from accessing your network through the firewall IP address blocking.

• Firewall domain name blocking

Firewalls can be successfully used to protect the computer network from the malicious and spamming websites by using the domain name blocking attribute.

The firewall can block access to a particular website, for example, Instagram.

It can also be set to allow access to a specific website using the domain name extension. For instance, blocking access to domain names with .org extension and allowing access to domain names with .edu extension.

• Firewall keywords

Most of the new Windows firewall includes attributes that makes it possible to achieve a level of security in your computer network by enabling the firewall to sieve through the data flowing through the network and block out malicious data based on certain keywords.

For instance, you may wish to block sexual content or adult-oriented website from sending information into your teenage child’s computer network.

• Firewall port blocking

Most Internet services run through different network ports, hence, to achieve more stable security on your network, you may wish to set the firewall to align services to a particular port.

This can help prevent someone from running any service on your computer from an unauthorized port.

This is achieved by setting the firewall rules to block certain port numbers.

• Firewall application blocking

Another well to note feature of the Windows firewall is that it can be used to block the installation of applications sourced from untrusted platforms.

The Windows firewall can be set to issue a warning notice when an application from a malicious source is to be installed on the computer system.

• Firewall protocol

A firewall protocol is used to determine services that can be run on a particular network. This can help to improve the security outcome of your network.

Once you are able to minimize services through the network, especially services that your computer network to malicious spamming, the less vulnerable your network will be to attack.

Firewall protocols can help prevent services such as file transfer protocols (FTP) from being run on your machine, and can only be allowed on authentication by you.

Conclusion

The Windows firewall is a very important security component on your computer. In ensuring the protection of your computer network from malicious attackers and phishing networks, Windows firewall is considered the first line of defense.

However, it should be noted that the Windows firewall is not the only point of consideration when it comes to your computer security, as third-party firewalls and security packages, which can help improve the general security level on your computer network, are also available on the market.