Computer Beginner Guide

Most firewalls designed for home users are incredibly easy to use. A firewall can be hardware or software. Some firewall software may contain numerous other features as well. For example, Symantec’s Norton Internet Security has the following key features: Parental Control Used to block unsuitable web sites so that you can rest easy when your children are surfing the Internet. AntiVirus Yes, firewall and antivirus in the same software package! What a concept! Spam Alert Used to block unwanted email messages from reaching your inbox. Ad Blocking Used to help put a stop to banner ads, pop-ups, and pop-under advertising windows. Privacy Control Used to prevent information being sent from your computer without your permission. Connection Keep Alive Used to help prevent dial-up Internet sessions from being disconnected due to periods of inactivity. Web Cleanup Used to delete unneeded files left over from Internet sessions. Cookie Control Used to accept or r...

Nations without controlled borders cannot ensure the security and safety of their citizens, nor can they prevent piracy and theft. Networks without controlled access cannot ensure the security or privacy of stored data, nor can they keep network resources from being exploited by hackers. The communication efficiency provided by the Internet has caused a rush to attach private networks directly to it. Direct Internet connections make it easy for hackers to exploit private network resources. Prior to the Internet, the only widely available way for a hacker to connect from home to a private network was by direct dialing with modems and the public telephony network. Remote access security was a relatively small issue. When you connect your private network to the Internet, you are actually connecting your network directly to every other network that's attached to the Internet directly. There's no inherent central point of security control—in fact, there's no inhe...