18 Feb 2008 04:33:25 | Richard Seng
How to Choose a Firewall: Tips and Tricks for the Savvy User Without a firewall, your computer is opened up your computer to a host of attacks from hackers. These online criminals try to access your computer to change or steal your private information. With this information, the hacker can steal your identity, or access and use money from your bank account or credit cards.
The past few years have seen a boom in ID theft, and a corresponding boom in industries, such as firewall, working to combat identity theft. It is predicted that firewall sales will come to 3.7 billion USD in 2007 (from itnews.com). With all the choices out there, how do you determine the best one?
Choosing Wisely There are four main things a good firewall needs to supply. It needs to have good features, be easy to use, be reliable, and have technical support and updates available.
Features to look for are the ability to block cookies, websites, browser history logs, and other undesirable things. Blocking these decreases your susceptibility to viruses and attacks. Individual settings are a plus, because you could visit some sites that your children cannot, or limit their time differently than yours.
Ease of use means the firewall is simple. Not only is it intuitive, but it should customize itself to your computer through its preset defaults. Installation should be quick and straightforward.
Reliable software responds correctly to unknown information. By responding correctly, it will keep harmful software, such as Trojans, out. These things coming in could cause your computer to automatically restart or shut off, losing any of your unsaved data.
Technical Support is preferably free, and should be over either the phone or the internet. Upgrades should be simple to find and use, sometimes automatic.
Top 2 personal firewall software programs to consider.
Zone Alarm Pro
Kerio Personal Firewall
Learn as much about the firewall software as possible before you buy. Check for online reviews and forum posts. Ask around to see if your friends or family has used the software you are considering, and see what their opinion of it is. Act quickly, as you never know how much of your information is already in jeopardy.
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