- Topics Mentioned
- Operating System(s):
- Widows Vista
This information is for all the Microsoft Vista home users who are struggling with the Vista firewall on their own.
Outbound Firewall, that is supposed to restrict traffic on specific ports, has been turned off by default. This means no protection is being provided there — none at all.
This was done in response to feedback from large organizations who wanted Microsoft to disable the Vista feature so that their Security Administrators could manage it. And while this is good for them, where does that leave the rest of the Vista users?
If you are not among the tech savvy, it may end up leaving you in the dark … because turning your firewall back on and configuring it correctly requires a fair amount of technical knowledge and skill.
Not only do you need to know what to block, and on what ports, you also need to know how to block it, which is not obvious. Configuration settings are in places you would never think to find them, descriptions are confusing and misleading, and wizards are hard to follow.
Here is an “eye-opening” article by David Berlind from ZDNet. He says that having Vista firewall may actually be worse than not having any firewall at all.
Why? Because it gives you a false sense of security. You think you are secured, and in reality you are not. Adding insult to injury, the process of setting up your Windows security is so difficult and discouraging, it becomes nearly impossible to configure correctly.
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