There are a variety of firewalls, from separate boxes and servers providing firewall protection to software sitting on the computer itself. Unfortunately too many people are taking risks with their firewall protection.

It’s like playing Russian roulette if people keep allowing x, y or z application they never heard of to have carte blanche access surely it’s the numbers game, the odds start stacking up against.

Worse still people still recommend others to temporarily (surely some people surely forget to re-enable) disable their firewall or numerous settings to see if that’s where a problem lies.

Some software firewalls require more user interaction than others and often are configured to prompt for a decision from the user when required. Thus often providing the user with the final decision. Should this program be installed, given network access, full system access etc? The firewall good or bad, it’s the ultimate decision maker currently presenting the problem, the computer user, you and me.

With the world becoming more connected, broadband becoming more widely available, it’s never been so cheap to distribute harmful software, to load malicious script on a site, so easy to probe computers, perform man in the middle attacks…..it’s like an open bar for the criminals.

So using making sure your firewall is protecting you, requires you to help reduce its exposure to risk. So this means your part of the process also, along with antivirus and other aspects building towards a more secure system. Making sure you and others can make more informed judgements is important.

General tips:

- Avoid peer to peer illegal files.
- Research software before you download and install.
- Read sites such as The Internet Protectors, learn how to protect yourself and keep informed.
- Never disable your firewall when connected to a network.
- When in doubt, follow your gut instinct and avoid.
- Review your current protection and update your security when required.
- Train and talk to those who use your computers and networks, make sure they are not putting your systems and data at risk.
- Use your common sense!

The above pointers are only the tip of the iceberg. The important thing is...

Don’t play Russian roulette with the firewall.

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Author:Andrew Emmett http://www.andrewemmett.co.uk