IT Security Support

Personal Firewalls

On this page:
Overview
What is a Personal Firewall?
What does it Protect Against?
Enabling Personal Firewalls
Windows
Macintosh
Linux

Overview

IS&T recommends using vendor-provided firewalls when using Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. As with any computer safety measure, always check with your local IT support provider prior to using a personal firewall.

What is a Personal Firewall?

A personal firewall is software installed on a PC that controls communication to and from that PC when connected to a network or the internet. It provides a line of defense against someone who might try to access your computer from outside the firewall without your permission.

What Does it Protect Against?

A personal firewall can help prevent computer worms from reaching your computer by blocking unsolicited communications. Through intrusion detection, the firewall allows a connection to be terminated or blocked when it suspects an intrusion is being attempted.

Tip: Enabled firewalls are one part of basic safe computing good habits. A firewall does not detect or disable viruses or worms if they are already on your computer. For this, you will want to install anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your computer. You will also want to keep your software up to date to prevent malware from taking advantage of software vulnerabilities in Windows and other programs.

Enabling Personal Firewalls

For any questions about enabling or configuring personal firewalls, contact the IS&T Service Desk or your local IT support provider.

Windows

Windows XP and Vista have built-in firewalls that are turned on by default. You only need to configure Windows Firewall if you are having a problem connecting to the Internet:

Windows XP Professional: New Security Features in SP2

Windows Vista: Windows Security Center

Macintosh

Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 have built-in firewalls. The 10.5 firewall is an application firewall, which can be configured per application rather than per port, as in 10.4. The firewall configurations can be found in System Preferences.