Helping to protect your computer with a

firewall
Why you need a firewall. A firewall is a protective boundary between a computer (or a network
of computers) and the outside world, where people or programs might try to access your
computer without invitation. Hackers commonly use software that scans the Internet looking for
computers with unprotected Internet connections. This software sends a very small message to
your computer. If your computer does not have a firewall, your computer will automatically
answer the message and thus announce that it is unprotected. But if you have set up a firewall, it
will receive such messages and not answer them, so hackers won't even know that your computer
exists.

Firewalls can be either hardware or software. A hardware firewall is a piece of equipment

that you physically connect to your network. It monitors all aspects of the communications that
are sent and received, and inspects the source and destination address of each message that it
handles. This provides security in helping to prevent intrusions to your computer or network. A
software firewall performs a similar function by using a program inside your computer instead of
an external device.

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) has a software firewall that's built in and
turned on for you. This firewall, called Windows Firewall, is turned on by default so that a level
of protection is in place right away. It monitors communications in the same way a hardware
firewall does. Windows Firewall restricts information that comes to your computer from other
computers, giving you more control over access to your data, and providing a line of defense
against people or programs that try to access your computer without invitation. Regardless of
whether you choose to take advantage of the Windows Firewall or another firewall available to
you, keeping the firewall turned on and updated is one of the important keys to helping to protect
your computer's security.

Hardware and software firewalls can be used on the same computer. By default, Windows
Firewall is enabled on all connections.

Click Related Topics for information about how to:

 Understand how Windows Firewall works.

 Enable or disable Windows Firewall.

Related Topics