[NCSA-discuss] firewall for WinXP

[Jeff The Riffer]

On Tue, 19 Sep 2006, Joseph Mack NA3T wrote:
>> But that's just me. I'm sure there are several others who would say that 
>> the built-in Windows firewall is as good as iptables, shorewall, or 
>> whatever else you run under Linux.
> I'm wondering if anyone knows.

Windows firewall won't give you the level of flexibility that a hardware 
firewall would. And it's not as multi-faceted as iptables. But it's quite 
sufficient for the restrictive configuration you'll want to use on public 
networks: Deny everything, then only allow in what you want.

If you really only just want to do web browsing and e-mail, you don't need a 
single port open. So just keep the firewall on denying all inbound 
connections. But as with any system (Windows or Unix), you need to take 
multiple steps to keep yourself protected:

  o Keep the OS updated
  o Disable or remove unused/unnecessary software
  o Require a password to login and use the system
  o Lock the screen after a few minutes of inactivity
  o Store sensitive data in an encrypted form

Now, if you plan to use wireless networks, well then you'll need to be more 
careful.

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