For security reasons, a firewall is essential for a computer. It prevents any malicious program from running. It is a set of related programs configured to protect private networks connected to the Internet from intrusion. It regulates the network traffic between different computer networks. It permits or denies the transmission of a network packet to its destination based on a set of rules.

Sometimes there is a need to allow certain programs to pass through the firewall. In this post, the procedure to configure firewall to allow certain programs is discussed.

The steps for configuring firewall access for specific programs are as follows:

1. Open the Control Panel window, and then click Security.



2. In the Security window, click Windows Firewall.



3. In the left pane of the dialog box, click Allow a program through Windows Firewall.



4. The Windows Firewall Settings dialog box will appear with the Exceptions tab selected. Check or uncheck the programs according to the requirement, and then click the OK button.

Note: If you need to include programs that are not listed, click the Add program button. Click on the program you want or browse the location of the program’s exe file if it is not in the list, and then click OK. The program you have included can now pass through the firewall and can access external networks or the Internet.

In the next post, I will discuss about Windows Automatic Updates.

Malware is a combination of the terms malicious and software. It refers to a variety of hostile programs, such as a virus or a Trojan horse, designed to damage or disrupt a computer. It gathers information about a computer without the user’s permission or knowledge.

Adware is software that automatically downloads and display advertisements in the Web browser without user permission. When a user visits a site or downloads software, sometimes a hidden adware software is also downloaded to display advertisement automatically. This can be quite irritating to user. Some adware can also be spyware.

Spyware is software that gathers information about a user without his knowledge. Spyware can get into a computer when the user downloads software from the Internet. Spyware can search the contents of a hard disk, address book of an e-mail, or any information about the computer, and transmits the information to the advertisers or other interested parties.

Internet Explorer 7+ provides the following security features to help protect security and privacy when a user surfs the Internet:

1. Protected mode: The protected mode feature of IE 7+ prevents a computer from saving the files or programs of a Web site. Protected mode makes it more difficult for malware to be installed. In case such a program is installed, it makes difficult for the program to damage a user’s file and other operating system files. Protected mode is enabled by default for Internet, local intranet, and restricted sites. However, it is not enabled for trusted sites.
2. Phishing Filter: Phishing filter of IE 7+ provides protection from online phishing attacks, fraud, and spoofed Web sites. The filter helps determine whether a Web site is a legitimate site or a phishing site. The filter blocks Web sites and cautions users about both reported and suspected phishing Web sites.
3. Pop-up blocker: IE 7+ pop-up blocker allows users block most pop-ups while surfing the Internet on their computers. Users can select the level of blocking. They can either block all pop-up windows or allow pop-ups they want to see. By default, the pop-up blocker is enabled in IE 7+. While the pop-up blocker is enabled, a user can see the blocked pop-ups by clicking the IE 7+ information bar.
4. Security zones: IE 7+ provides a user the facility of configuring security through Security zones. It allows a user or systems administrator to categorize Web sites that a user visits into several groups with a suitable security level. There are four security zones found in Internet Explorer. They are as follows:
   
   • Internet
   • Local Intranet
   • Trusted Site
   • Restricted Sites

Each zone or group has four security levels, which are defined as follows:

• High
• Medium
• Medium-Low
• Low

These levels determine the type of content a user can download and run. Security zones allow users to set the appropriate level of security for various types of Web contents that they are likely to visit. For any zone, a user can configure the security level, modify the security defaults, or use custom settings for other configurations. All the security zones with their default security levels are described as follows: 

• Internet zone: All sites on the Internet that are not in the Trusted or Restricted Sites zones are included in this zone. The default security level for this zone is Medium.
• Local Intranet zone: This zone includes all sites inside an organization’s firewall. The default security level for the zone is Medium.
• Trusted Sites zone: This is the zone where a user specifies Internet sites, which are trusted by the user. These sites might include corporate subsidiaries or perhaps the Web site of a trusted business partner. The default security level for the zone is Low.
• Restricted Sites zone: This is the zone where a user specifies sites that he does not trust and wants to restrict access of these sites to his computer. The default security level for the zone is High.

Note: Except the Internet zone, all the other zones do not include Web sites by default. Web sites must be placed manually into these zones. A user or an administrator can assign a Web site to a zone with a suitable security level. Whenever one attempts to open or download any content from the Web, Internet Explorer always checks the security zone’s settings and behaves according to the applied settings.

The following five levels of predefined security settings exist for security zones:

• High
• Medium-high
• Mediu
• Medium-low
• Low
5. Privacy settings: IE 7+ provides a privacy feature to help protect users’ privacy while they are online. Privacy settings specify how a computer handles cookies. The six settings available for defining privacy are as follows:
   • Block All Cookies
   • High
   • Medium High
   • Medium
   • Low
   • Accept All Cookies

The default setting is Medium.

6. Manage Add-ons: This feature of IE 7+ enables a user disable or allow Web browser Add-ons and delete unwanted ActiveX controls.

IE 7+ is shipped with Windows Vista.

The different power plans available in Windows Vista are as follows:

1. Balanced: This power plan offers full performance when a user needs it and saves the power during periods of inactivity. It balances energy consumption and system performance by adjusting the processor speed of a computer to match the user’s activity.
2. Power Saver: This power plan saves the power by reducing the system performance and extending the battery life.
3. High Performance: This power plan maximizes system performance and responsiveness but consumes the most energy.