Hi Shel,
A firewall is a piece of software that controls the ins and outs
between your computer an the internet. The software can reside in your
PC, or in a separate box like a broadband router or Wireless network
access point (WLAN).
There are many varieties of the PC residing kind. If you have
Microsoft Windows XP, there is a firewall built into ServicePack 2
which can be downloaded from Microsoft free of charge. Another product
is ZoneAlarm, which also has a free version, IIRC. Many of the
Antivirus software packages also ship with firewall software, eg.
Norton and F-Secure.
Usually, the software packages defaults to a setup that allows the
most common types of traffic, like mail, FTP and web-surfing, while
blocking the rest. A good software should give you warnings each time
a program on your PC tries to reach out to the internet, whereupon you
can grant or deny. Either on a permanent basis or from case to case.
hth,
Jostein
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shel Belinkoff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 5:35 PM
Subject: OT <LOL> - What's a Firewall?
It's been suggested that I install a fire wall, but I don't really
know
what one is or how they work. So, what's a fire wall, how does it
work,
what are the pros and cons of using one, and where can I get one?
Shel
