The Internet aside from being a repository of knowledge is also unfortunately a haven for malicious users that implement various types of attacks to penetrate computer system security with intent to cause damage. Securing the computer system has become the primary focus for both the individual and corporate users alike.

Internet security can essentially be broken down to three areas of concern, antivirus utilities, firewall protection and recommended practices (common sense). It is important that all of these three aspects be in place in your computer system to provide you adequate protection. Understanding the events that can lead to a compromised security is a necessity in computer protection.

With the growing dependence on the Internet and the introduction of more web based applications that are fast becoming an integral part of everyday computing, the need to secure home and business networks from vulnerability from Internet based attacks become more of a necessity. In this regard, the inception of firewall-enabled routers is becoming more prominent. These types of broadband routers which come equipped with firewall protection and provides high-speed access to the Internet to multiple users via cable of DSL modems is the latest in securing home and business networks. The basic firewall option of these routers includes support for NAT, DHC, and DNS services in real time IP addressing allocation and also filtering of static IP which allows quick management of Internet services.

One of the major concerns that the newest operating system from Microsoft, Windows Vista, is addressing is better overall security. The firewall version for the Windows Vista is designed for high configurability which also allows administrators to have greater control and management of system applications. The new firewall can filter incoming and outgoing traffic which gives it the capability to block access of outside machines that attempt to connect to your computer as well as applications in the local computer that are attempting to connect to other network systems. The ability of the console to function is categorized as single-machine mode where it manages a single computer or configured to regulate policies to multiple machines.

Many people in companies feel secure due to their long running or recently purchased and installed intrusion protection systems yet they are still suffering from attacks from all over the place, why? Well, firstly, a firewall is only as good as the overall security plan for the company which must tackle the problem on all fronts and not merely with the entry/exit points to the internet. There are a lot of threats from within such as employees bringing in their thumb/flash drives, iPods and iPhones into the office, hooking them up with their terminals to copy their recently purchased/downloaded songs, video or other media.
Such files can be host to many forms of malware, should they come in contact with exposed computers and their connection to a secure network may render or circumvent totally the security measures in place. (more…)

Though there are many software developers in the field of security software, none have been around as McAfee which has been around since the days of the command-line PC. Many of today’s malware are reminiscent of malware from days gone by when viruses were the norm of the hacker. But from the innocent test of genius previous hackers showed, came more sinister actions such as the recurring DoS attacks that flooded servers the world over, leaving millions cut off from the rest of the world. Identity theft is also one of the more dangerous issues that have risen in the past years also brought to life by the movie “The Net”, where one person’s identity is substituted by another with little one can do due to the centralized data that is used for most banking and financial systems.
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On the news survey, the most latest firewall application is now on market. Comodo assert that their firewall is unique, distinctive, matchless and rare in that it passes all known leak tests to ensure the integrity of data entering and exiting your system. Comodo has put firewall through all kinds of stylish tests to ensure its firewall powerful enough to ward off these attacks with default settings. No other firewall has had to work this hard.

-PC Magazine Online’s Editor’s Choice
-Secures against internal and external attacks
-Blocks internet access to malicious Trojan programs
-Safeguards your Personal data against theft
-Delivers total end-point security for
-Personal Computers and Networks

The installation process for the IIS 6.0 on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Operating System requires the activation of a firewall as a pre-installation requirement. This is done in order to secure the operating system from potential malicious codes that can damage not only the applications but data as well.

The Microsoft Windows Operating System provides a built-in software firewall which when enabled can provide ample security for the system in combination with antivirus and other security tools. Activation of the windows firewall is straightforward and can be done by going to the Control Panel and choosing the Windows Firewall option. After activation, check that only known applications is included in the exceptions tab.

Tenable Nessus 3 landed top one on the Top 100 Network Security Tools survey conducted by Insecure.org. Because the survey for the years 2000 and 2003 were successes, they pushed another survey last 2006 with about 3, 243 respondents. Insecure.Org came up with 100 tool list, subdividing the list into categories. The respondents listed commercial and open source network security tools, regardless of the platform where the tool is allowed to run.

Top-listed Nessus is a premiere open source tool for vulnerability assessments. It natively works on different platforms like OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, OS X and Windows. It is architected to have a GTK graphical user interface.

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• Make sure that you are keeping your personal computer patched. This will help your home network fight against different known vulnerabilities that can damage or weakened you security system. Like viruses, Trojans and worms, vulnerabilities are discovered as often. New vulnerabilities are usually the effect of coming up of new malicious files and software. Most of the time, these vulnerabilities can be found in operating systems, in different web browsers and third party software. If these vulnerabilities will be left unpatched, hackers can easily exploit your personal computer resulting in unauthorized control and access of information from your computer.

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• Never open suspicious electronic mails that came from unknown senders. A lot of worms and viruses use the ‘social engineering’ mode of operation to carry out its malicious intents. By this, it means that worms and viruses fool the user to join different processes that will lead to system infiltration of the culprit and thus making the user another one victim.

  You can easily identify this. Usually, electronic mails from senders who you do not know or have no idea about are the carriers of the worms and viruses. You should just delete spam messages. If ever you opened one and it has an attachment, do not open the attachment.

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