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What is a Firewall?
The main purpose of a firewall is to control access to or from a computer for security purposes.
A firewall is a software program, hardware device, or a combination of both that monitors the information coming through the Internet connection into your computer. The firewall will only let information in that you asked for. A firewall will also monitor information going out from your computer to the internet. It will only let information out that you say can go out.
Windows XP's Internet Connect Firewall is really only half a firewall. It only checks information coming into your computer. It doesn't check information going out from you computer. Why is this significant? If you have inadvertantly become infected with a virus, trojan, worm, or spyware, that little malicious devil can send out your personal information, use your computer to infect other computers, or even allow hackers to access your computer to do whatever they please. A true firewall will stop that malicious software from getting out of your computer and notify you there is a problem so you can clean it up. ZoneAlarm is a true firewall. It may very well be the most important security software on a computer.
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