[pchelpers] Article:Firewalls: Your first line of defence

Tuesday 21st February 2006

Firewalls: Your first line of defence
Jonathen Yarden
TechRepublic
February 21, 2006, 16:00 GMT

If you want to secure your PC, you need to start with a firewall.
As a systems administrator for an ISP , my primary function is to 
support several thousand customers by ensuring that equipment and 
services are operating correctly. Depending on the customer, this job 
can include maintaining on-site routing and firewall equipment, which 
can vary depending on the specific needs of the customer.

When it comes to supplying Internet access, ISPs provision a single IP 
address or a subnet for their customers. Either way, I always suggest 
that anyone accessing the Internet protect systems with either a 
hardware or software firewall.

Of course, IT pros know that a firewall is anything that protects a 
computer or network from the ravages of the Internet. But when talking 
to end users, I try to describe the level of questionable activity on 
the Internet in terms of worldwide accessibility.

Because public Internet addresses are readily accessible from anywhere 
in the world, even a simple dial-up Internet connection with a public IP 
address exposes your computer to the rest of the world while you're 
connected. This means anyone on the Internet can identify your 
computer—and perhaps scan it to see whether it's running vulnerable 
software or services. That's why you need to implement a firewall to try 
to protect it.

More here:
http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020457,39253576,00.htm

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