Get a Firewall

What is a firewall?

A firewall is a tool that can either be hardware or software. Its purpose is to protect computers against threats from intruders breaking into your computer or network via the Internet by:-

• accessing the data on your computer;
  
• running programs designed to spread malicious code to other computers over the Internet.

Types of Firewall

Firewalls can be classified into 2 types - software and hardware firewalls.

• Software firewall: this type is installed on a personal computer, e.g. the Windows firewall. Nowadays, a number of anti-virus software applications are also bundled with software firewalls.
  
• Hardware firewall: this type is purchased as a stand-alone product and is often integrated with routers into your system and network. The computers sharing the same router are simultaneously protected by the same hardware firewall. These firewalls can protect every machine on a local network.

Both hardware and software firewalls can be used at the same time to protect your computer and network, but it is always a good idea to have a software firewall installed and enabled for each individual computer before connecting to the Internet.

Click here for a sample list of personal firewalls.