| Before you connect to the internet at home, by | | | | There is a wealth of settings that you can adjust |
| far the most important thing you should have in | | | | on your router, with the more expensive routers |
| place is a firewall. | | | | offering more sophisticated options; generally |
| Put simply, a firewall acts as a barrier between | | | | speaking though, the default settings will suffice |
| your private, home network and the internet. | | | | for most home users. |
| Browsing the web without a firewall is not a good | | | | The following is a brief list of some of the things |
| idea, especially if you have personal or confidential | | | | a firewall will help protect you against: |
| information stored on your home computer(s). | | | | - Viruses & Trojans |
| There are two kinds of firewalls that, when | | | | - Remote logins |
| combined, keep your home network near | | | | - Application backdoors |
| impenetrable, which means you can be happy in | | | | - SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) session |
| the knowledge that you're pretty well protected | | | | hijacking |
| when browsing the net. | | | | - System bugs |
| Firstly, there's hardware firewalls, the most | | | | As well as hardware firewalls, it's worthwhile |
| common example of these are built into | | | | investing in a software firewall too, which are |
| broadband routers; which more often than not | | | | often bundled with virus protection software. Such |
| are bundled with broadband provider's packages. | | | | products range considerably in price and |
| Most hardware firewalls use either; packet | | | | effectiveness. |
| filtering; a proxy service; or stateful inspection to | | | | In conclusion, if you have a broadband connection |
| control the traffic that passes through them. | | | | then you are all the more vulnerable to malicious |
| The former of these is the most common and | | | | activity as broadband connections are always on; |
| involves the firewall examining every packet (the | | | | therefore ensuring you have adequate protection |
| small pieces of information that we send and | | | | is paramount. If you are not yet on the internet, |
| receive over the internet) that passes through it | | | | then you should compare broadband packages |
| and if the packet conforms to predefined filters | | | | online to ensure you find the most suitable |
| then it is let through, otherwise, it is dropped! | | | | package for you. |