By Doctor Security

Some reports claim that the built-in Windows 7 firewall provides sufficient protection for the average home user who doesn’t take a lot of online risks. Well, we have to respectfully disagree.

The Windows 7 default firewall is simply not strong enough. By comparing it to ZoneAlarm’s firewall offerings, you will see why we are being so bold in our assertion.

Any online security expert knows that a firewall is a basic necessity for protecting PCs from outside attacks. The harder to circumvent your firewall, the more protected you are. Without a strong firewall, computers are vulnerable to hackers and other cybercriminals who can then raid files for valuable personal and financial data and set up “back doors” for continuous violation.

There are two aspects to a good firewall: inbound protection and outbound protection. Inbound firewalls block Internet attacks. Any suspicious or unauthorized activity is blocked.

Unfortunately, no defense is 100% and if a threat gets around your antivirus and your inbound firewall (and this happens all the time – even the best antivirus misses 25-50% of new attacks), your personal data could then be captured by a hacker.

This is where strong outbound firewall protection comes into play. It automatically blocks unauthorized outbound data traffic. So a virus that gets by your other defenses will be blocked from sending your personal information back to the criminal.

The Window 7 default firewall does not provide outbound protection. If you are an advanced user, you can set up the Windows 7 firewall to include some outbound protection, but it is not very sophisticated, leaving many gaps in your protection and creating an overwhelming number of complex pop-up alerts that most users will not understand.

If you’re looking for the strongest firewall protection, be sure it features:

v   Both inbound and outbound protection

v   A way to detect and block unknown viruses based upon behavior

v   A system for detecting malware that appears to be a good program

v   A way to ferret out hacking disguised as harmless network transmissions

v   An ability to appear invisible to hackers automatically

ZoneAlarm firewalls feature all of the above and are easy to use. Don’t be caught without a strong firewall – the risks are too great.

For more see: ZoneAlarm Blog: Information and news about internet security, virus protection, spyware removal, and more...
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