WirelessVT Residential Internet Service

What is a Firewall?

A firewall is an item, hardware or software, that prevents unwanted communication from your computer or computers to outer computers. When computers were designed, they were made to communicate with each other and to trust each other. This has lead to many security issues. You install a firewall on your computer to keep it from giving away too much information to potential bad guys. You install it on your network to allow your computers to freely chat and inter-operate while keeping all other computers outside your network from having access to your computers.

Who am I securing myself from?

WirelessVT Solutions has a Firewall between the internet and your community, so we are securing you from "The Internet" as a whole, however, you need to secure yourself from the people in your community. Your neighbors are your "Net" neighbors too. They are all behind our firewall, so it doesn't protect you from them.

What do I need to do to be secure?

Your computer wants to chat with other computers. It trusts all other computers first. This is what gets your computer in trouble. If you have one computer, you can get a software or hardware firewall. They will cost about the same. If you have Windows XP, it is built-in, and you just need to activate it. This firewall will block communications originating from a place other than your computer. A firewall will allow your computer to start a conversation with others, but will not allow others to start a conversation with you (if you configure it that way). This is the safest way to configure a firewall. Any computer you should be talking to shouldn't be starting the conversation. For example, when you go to get the weather, you initiate the conversation, asking weather.com for the current weather. Imagine if weather.com could update your computer without you asking...that means they could give your computer who knows what at any time. That would be bad. If you have a few computers, a network, you want your computers to be able to freely talk and share files, but you don't want other people to be able to talk to your computers. You purchase a firewall which goes between our equipment and your network. This allows all the computers on your network to chat about whatever but doesn't allow the conversation to extend outside of your network.

Is a Firewall all I need?

A firewall is a good start. But there are other things to be aware of. Since the firewall allows your computer to start conversations, if you get infected with a Virus or Trojan or Spyware, your machine can create a hole in the firewall directly to the bad guys. By having a firewall, you can be a little relaxed, but you should still keep in mind the basics. Those are:

Never give out your password to Anyone
    No one will ever ask you for your password, especially not in an email! Passwords are like your keys. If I call you up and tell you to mail your house keys to me, you wouldn't, right?
Always be suspicious!
    Before putting in any identifying or important information into a web site, make sure you feel safe and sure about the site. If I mail you a form that asks for your credit card number, would you fill it out and mail it back to me? Not unless you have a good reason. Use the same caution on web sites.
Pick a Good Password!
    Stupid, Simple or easy to guess passwords are the biggest mistake. Your birthday is the worst password. Use letters and numbers. Don't use people's names. Don't use your kids or grandkids names.
Don't install things an email tells you to
    Companies don't send files for you to install. Microsoft will NEVER email you a patch, nor will we.
Don't open any email attachment from someone you don't know
    These are usually viruses or worse!
If you are unsure, ask someone!
    Just like the signs from the gas company...call before you dig, if you are unsure of an attachment or something with your computer, call a friend, email the person back, or call us first.

Don't forget Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Software!

OK, so this isn't a question. But it is extremely important. Don't forget to keep these products up to date. We give and install these products for FREE so there is no excuse not to have them installed and up to date.