These rules restrict communication
so that only certain applications are permitted to use your network
connection. This effectively closes some backdoors to your computer that
otherwise might be exploited by hackers, certain types of viruses, and other
malicious applications.
For the most part, you can leave Windows Firewall alone and never touch it.
Unlike the early firewall debacle that came with Windows XP, the one in
Vista is not booby-trapped to prevent file sharing or the Internet time feature.
418 | Chapter 7: Networking and Internet
In fact, it??™s pretty unobtrusive, bothering you only if it detects a program it
hasn??™t seen before.
The biggest problem with Windows Firewall is that it
doesn??™t protect your PC nearly as much as people think it does,
nor does it offer the same kind of protection as a router or
hardware-based firewall. While it??™s better than having no firewall,
Windows Firewall can provide a false sense of security.
One of the main reasons a router is so effective is that it provides a layer of
abstraction between your network and the outside world. Consider a single
packet of incoming data: if your PC is connected directly to the source of the
threat (no router), all that packet has to do is sneak in through one of Windows
Firewall??™s many exceptions (explained later), and it??™s home free. But
with a router, that incoming packet hits a wall once it reaches your network;
unless you enable the port forwarding feature described in ???Control Your PC
Remotely,??? earlier in this chapter, that packet will have nowhere to go.
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