Internet Security 102

This article is a continuation of the Internet Security article series. You should read Internet Security 101 before you continue, if you haven't already done so. In this article, we will take a look at security software that can defend you and your computer from attackers. terribly interesting here, though.

There are several types of software that can be used for defense. Usually, a combination of many types will provide sufficient protection.

As in a car, a firewall is used to separate the passangers from the engine. So, if the car's engine explodes, then the passangers will supposedly be protected. The concept is almost the same in network firewalls, although if properly configured, there should be no suppositions of protection, there should be just protection. A network firewall can be a piece of software or a dedicated hardware device that is used to separate two network areas. For example a firewall can be installed on a computer that is a school's network connection; it separates the school's internal network from the Internet. Another possible scenario is that a firewall can be installed on your home machine. The two areas it separates in this case is the local machine and the Internet. Firewalls are most effective when they sit on the edge of a network, so that it can authorize as much traffic as possible that flows into or out of the network.

Besides a firewall, the one thing that one should do is uninstall or deactivate unnecessary software. The software may have bugs in it that allow an attacker to gain control of your machine. The software may not have any apparent bugs in it, but it may provide the attacker with userful information about your computer, its software, and configuration. To most home Internet users, file and printer sharing is unnecessary unless they have a home network. These services should be disabled because they provide information about the computer and provide a gateway to modify any data on it. If you must use either of these services, you are advised to strongly password-protect them.

Every couple of months, you should check with your operating system vendor if they have released any updates, patches, or service packs to any of their software or operating system components. This will assure that you have the latest software installed, which is bound to include updates to security vulnerabilities. Besides upgrading your operating system components, you should check for new versions and updates to your Internet browser. Many Internet browsers allow malicious attackers to crash your machine or acces it from a web page.