Overly strict firewall rules may break some software
on your system. Worse yet, overly lenient rules may not
protect your computer adequately and only give you a
false sense of security. Check out the PC Flank Leaktest at
http://www.pcflank.com/ if you want to test your firewall.
Figure 7-33. Click the Windows Firewall Properties link to choose whether or not to block
Inbound and Outbound connections, change notification options, and enable logging
Secure Your Networked PC | 425
Networking and
Internet
If all you need to do is block a specific program, you can use Windows
Defender. Just open Windows Defender in Control Panel, click the Tools
button at the top of the window, and then click the Software Explorer link.
From the Category list, choose Network Connected Programs, and then
select the application you want to block in the list (it must be currently running
and making use of the connection). Then, click either End Process or
Block Incoming Connections, depending on what you want to do.
(Strangely, it won??™t let you block Microsoft programs, but I suppose every
company is entitled to a little vanity.)
No matter which firewall solution you choose, however, you??™ll most likely
still need to take the time to configure custom rules using a similar procedure
to the one described earlier in this section.
Scan Your System for Open Ports
Each open network port on your computer is a potential security vulnerability,
and Vista??™s tendency to leave more ports open than it needs is a common
cause for concern.
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