To illustrate the another difference between the security offered by the Windows
Firewall versus that afforded by a router, consider Figure 7-29. The
larger dotted rectangle shows what??™s protected by your router??™s firewall, and
the smaller rectangle shows what??™s protected by Windows. In addition to
the larger scope of the router??™s protection, it??™s also much less likely to be
compromised than a software-based solution like the Windows Firewall.
Figure 7-29. The larger dotted box shows the scope of protection offered by a router; the
smaller box shows the scope of the Windows Firewall
Secure Your Networked PC | 419
Networking and
Internet
Now, assuming you??™ve bought the previous argument, you might think that
more firewall is better??”that using Windows Firewall along with a router
will protect your system better than a router alone. The problem with this
approach is that, again referring to Figure 7-29, Windows Firewall somewhat
isolates your PC from the other computers in your workgroup. This
can be good, in that viruses and other spyware on other PCs on your network
will have a harder time infecting your PC (a particularly useful feature
when you??™re surfing on a public network), or it can be bad, in that the Windows
Firewall can break features you use every day.
If you??™re on the road, and not behind the protective veil of
your router??™s firewall, you should always use Windows Firewall
or some other software-based firewall to help protect
your PC from other PCs lurking on any public networks you
might use.
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