Firewall is a device which is configured to allow, deny, encrypt, decrypt or proxy all computer activities between different security domains by simply being based on a set of rules and criteria. Windows Vista provides 2 different interfaces for the user to personalize the firewall settings based on individual needs. The advanced configuration settings in windows Vista is a new feature, and allows many more options than the basic configuration.
A custom Microsoft Management Console (MMC) needs to be created, to access the advanced settings. The purpose behind this is to dissuade other users from accessing these settings. To create a custom MMC:
1. Click the Windows button
2. Enter ‘cmd’ in the search box
3. Right click Run Program and select Run as administrator
4. In the Run window type ‘mmc.exe’ and click OK.
5. After MMC opens, go to File --> Add/Remove Snap-in.
6. Open Available Snap-ins list and find an entry called ‘Windows Firewall with Advanced Security’.
7. Select the entry and then click the Add button.
8. Accept the default settings from the Select Computer dialog box.
9. Click Finish and then click OK.
Some interesting configurations that are made available to you from within the MMC are:
Multiple Firewall Profiles is an option that allows you to create three different profiles for different situations. This is ideal for portable computing. For example, you can create a public profile to use Wi-Fi in an unsecured environment, a private profile if you are using internet at home and a domain profile for your work place. You can turn the selected profile On or Off by selecting the tab. By default outbound connections are permitted while inbound connections are not. However this setting can be changed and exceptions are allowed.
Another tab that can be seen beside the three profile tabs is the IPSec tab. IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) is a security standard which provides security for data that is transmitted through unprotected network. In the IPSec window, you can click the Custom button to customize settings based on your requirements. The configuration options that are available are Key Exchange, Data Protection and Authorization Method.
A wizard will guide you to setup your connection security rules to determine how and when secure connections are to be applied. You can isolate or restrict specific connections based on a domains membership or health status, set up authentication rules, exempt certain computers from authentication or even create a custom rule when nothing else applies. These rules can very easily be deleted by right clicking and selecting delete. You can disable them in order to be used later.
You can modify the preconfigured rules to block or allow certain programs. You can create rules by using the New Rule Wizard. You can apply a rule to all programs or to any one program, block or allow all connections from a certain program, allow only secure connections, apply encryption to secure transmitted data or configure source and destination IP addresses for both inbound and outbound traffic.
The monitoring feature conveniently lists all of your rules and their properties on one page. You can right click and select export list to export to a text file. Ohio Virus Removal helps you with queries based on firewall protection and offer firewall software for Windows Vista.
Author Bio:
My name is Karim Kayley and I am IT Systems Engineer with over 10 Year Experience; L&C Sunshine Technology Services was started with the business fundamentals that a client should be dealt with on a one on one personal level, not treated like an account number.
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