What is a firewall?

If the owner of a computer connected to the global Internet does not know what a firewall is and does not take any measures to protect information, then he is unreasonably at risk. According to statistics, a computer with open ports (no firewall) is exposed to the risk of infection every 2-5 minutes.

The fact that there are a lot of different malicious programs, everyone heard. And stories about potential dangers are more terrible than another. Although, focusing the CRT beam of a monitor at one point or erasing a BIOS chip has long been a thing of the past, giving way to a practical benefit for the creators of malware, however, it's necessary to protect data on the computer while you are on the Internet.

Before answering the question "what is a firewall", you need to specify that the antivirus and firewall are different things. Do not confuse these terms! Some viruses are distributed by running an infected file in a "clean" system. And it does not matter who starts the infected program - user or operating system (autostart function). But others use to spread the capabilities of the global network, without requiring an immediate launch. Obviously, if the first can recognize anti-virus protection programs, then they are practically powerless against network infection.

To answer the question "what is a firewall", consider a simple example. A computer connected to a network is a house with many windows and doors. Some doors are designed for guests, as they lead directly to the living room, others lead to the cottage and dogs, etc. The same with the windows: one must be constantly ajar, , The other opens periodically, and the third - the deaf. Obviously, keeping them all "unbuttoned" is quite dangerous, because any thief can easily take anything out of the house.

The windows and doors in this example are network computer ports. If the user does not know what a firewall is and has not installed the corresponding program, then all ports are open. Through them, you can access information on your computer: directly steal or infect the system with malicious code. Firewall is a special program that closes "extra" ports and allows you to flexibly configure the work with the required ones. By analogy with the house - this is the guard, unmistakably determining where the visitor is coveted, and where - not. The name came from the English. Firewall (wall of fire). Sometimes the term "firewall" is a German synonym. You can check the status of the computer ports on the Russian site 2ip.

The firewall is a part of the Windows system, but it's pretty simple, so it's recommended that you pay attention to specialized products. There are a lot of them and everyone will find the best solution for themselves.

Users who want to completely secure the information on their computer, it is worth trying to take advantage of complex software solutions. Usually their name is the word "Security". For example, Kaspersky Internet Security, Comodo Internet Security, Norton Internet Security, etc. These programs combine a quality antivirus and firewall. However, many similar solutions are distributed on a fee basis. At the same time, there are both free firewalls and antiviruses. For example, by installing, for example, Avira Free (free) and Comodo Firewall, you can organize reliable protection against malicious programs. All firewalls provide various protection options, so before the final choice you should try selected "applicants". For example, the firewall that is part of Dr.Web, when you try to access user programs on the Network, displays a dialog box with options for actions. This can be convenient if a program "without demand" wants to go online.