[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >The firewall goes right behind the engine. It helps prevent your toes from >getting toasted when you overrev and blow your mill. <vbg>
:-) Seriously though, a firewall is a piece of hardware that goes between your computer and its network connection (usually cable modem or DSL modem). A firewall performs what's called NAT or Network Address Translation so that it can isolate what's Out There from your computer. Most consumer routers fall into this category. You can get one for under $40.00 these days. There are also a lot of software apps available that bill themselves as firewalls and emulate what a hardware firewall is supposed to do. They're better than nothing, but anything that's implemented in software can theoretically be circumvented via software (read: virus). I wouldn't dream of connecting my computer to the 'net without a NAT firewall box in between. (I'm using a Linksys router.)
