Internet and applications largely dependent on it have greatly created a different aspect of information management and delivery. Information is easily accessed. The complexity of the Web has also increased human productivity and resourcefulness. There is currently an observed greater demand for Internet-reliant services. Coming with these demands are the rise of attackers that are primarily motivated to steal data and disrupt services. It is here where importance of a firewall is realized.

A firewall is primarily created to regulate the access to a system for safety precautions and to protect computers against hackers. It can be a program, a device or both that checks data passing trough connections in a computer. A firewall will prompt a user for a program or information trying to access a computer. It will only allow the passage of information which the user gave his consent to.

With the growing number of threats in the Internet, the school’s firewalls cannot be ignored. It is not an optional feature but rather a must. There are hundred of potential threats and tools that hackers can utilize to gain access to a computer. Once this happens, a computer can now be used as a bot. It can be commanded to attack other systems, perform port scans, send spammed messages, or in denial of service attacks.

There are a lot of available firewalls free for download. These include Kaspersky Internet Security, Avast Antivirus, Eset Smart Security and many others. These applications are usually combination of an antivirus and a firewall. Such is also a mode of double protection. Installing these softwares would however require turning off software firewalls such as the Windows XP Firewall. Keeping two firewalls is not a good habit. One is enough. Either way, all of these firewalls can efficiently block attacks.

Once a firewall is installed and properly configured, there’s no need to check it very often. It is able to work independently and silently. However, some firewalls may prompt a user for programs that needs user consent prior to running. Others may also prompt a user of a particular site or traffic trying to access his system. The system may also prompt a user in case his firewall got disabled. The importance of firewalls should never be taken for granted. It is one best security measures a user can take. After all, sensitive information that ranges from personal files, personal identifiable information, system stability and a lot more are greatly at stake.

This is a scene that plays itself day in and day out all over the world and that is because, as stated, the Internet is now an extension of ourselves. Now that i have probably freaked many of you out we will get to the heart of today’s discussion. Today we are learning about what a firewall is and what exactly it does for us. We might even touch on a few questions that you might have about the firewall (the one that protect your computers against hackers) that you currently have installed on your machine. Many of us who work in big companies have heard this sentence over and over, “ my firewall won’t let me onto this site!” Well, this is a good thing, that means that it is doing its job.

To be more specific, the firewall itself is basically a piece of hardware or a software program that will watch and sift through all of the information that is going out as well as coming into your computer by way of the connection that you have to the Internet. Think of this, each bit of information is called a “packet”, and your firewall has eyes to watch everything that comes in, just like a security guard. So, if it notices that a packet is trying to come in that is not right or is shown to be harmful to your computer then it is escorted right back out the door!

Just think, if you didn’t’t have a firewall and you were connected to the Internet, there are millions of people who will exploit your system. Hackers can come in and take whatever information that they wish and you wouldn’t’t even know that they were there. Here is hoping that you have found the information in this article to be helpful and that you have learned a few things about firewalls in general. Surf Safe!

The first step that you will do would be choosing the right web browser. Don’t forget to use a free antivirus for your protection. Do not constrict yourself in the product of Microsoft, namely the Internet Explorer. There are a lot of web browsers that you can try but always think of what will bring you the most number of options. Internet explorer allows your school’s administrators to trace the sites that you have been visiting. The most suggested web browser would be the Opera. The way to get past your school’s firewall through Opera is through right installation. Choose the custom install option when installing so that it will not require an administrator. You will be able to choose the installation path yourself by doing so.

The third step might not at all times but it sure is very simple. Most of the time, by changing http:// into https://, you can get past your school’s firewall security. However, give emphasis to the phrase “most of the time” as this is not guaranteed to work 100%. Aside from it does not always work, you also have to re-enter a link when you click one. You will then be informed that the security certificate is not trusted in which all you have to do is accept the certificate and continue.

The last step is as effective as it is simple. By downloading Ultrasurf , you can get past your school’s firewall. After this, the only thing that you have to do is configure the Opera. Go to the Proxy Servers menu by accessing it through the Tools menu. Check the first six boxes and type 127.0.0.1 in the first column of text boxes. The last thing that you have to do is type 9666 in the boxes named “port”. Now, the only thing left to do is enjoy restriction-free internet surfing on your school grounds.

Another thing that you should take note of is that anyone who uses a modem to connect to the Internet, even if it’s just one computer and not even a network of computers should have a firewall. It seems that the ones with the modems are the sitting ducks.