Cornerstone Publishing and STI want you to know what’s so special about a firewall and why the average subscriber to an Internet service would need one. Last time you checked, your paycheck probably wasn't signed by the CIA, the NSA, or the FBI so how much "sensitive" material could be in your computer? Why hassle with setting up a firewall?

When connected to the Internet, your computer is a “resource.” It's either a resource for you and your family or it's a resource for hackers, spammers, and thieves. It's your choice. There are a limited number of ways that a virus can be introduced into your computer. A good, up-to-date anti-virus program watches those entry points. A good ad or pop-up blocker can watch for those pests so you never have to click through them. However, there are more than 65,000 entry points on every computer that a hacker, spammer, or thief can use to take control of your resource and use it in ways you don't even want to imagine. The ONLY way to protect these 65,000+ entry points is by the use of some type of firewall whether it be an appliance, device, or program running on your computer.

Your computer can be utilized for the following:
1. It can be one "zombie" in a “distributed denial of service attack.” Your computer and potentially thousands of other computers, in concert, could be used to target one IP address and take down a network. This is not science fiction. It's been done many times.

2. Is your Internet connection sluggish? Hard-drive seem to be running a lot? Your computer can be used as a storage and retrieval place for copyrighted materials through numerous P2P (peer to peer) programs. When Sony or Warner Bros comes looking for the culprit, guess whose computer all that copyrighted material will be on?

3. Want to be a Spam zombie? While you are sitting at your computer sending a complaint email to some network because you received a spam or while you are sitting in the next room visiting with your family, your computer could be sending out thousands of spam emails an hour via a spam Trojan. Every one of those spam emails will be traced back to your computer. The spammer walks away chuckling.

If you do not have a good firewall installed and maintained, your computer can be preempted by people who most likely do not share your moral standards. Firewalls typically come in two varieties. The first type of firewall comes in the form of software that you install on your computer. Although this type of firewall may provide the user with slightly better control, the added overhead can also slow your machine down. The second type of firewall is a device that sits between your computer and the Internet. Typically these devices are more difficult to adjust; however, adjustment is rarely required for the average user, and there are no extra software processes to slow your machine down. If you travel a lot, you may might want to load the software variety of firewall on your computer, as you'll have the peace of mind of knowing that your machine is safe when plugging your computer into a “foreign” network (like a high-speed jack in a hotel room).

Good news! STI DSL modems have a built-in firewall. If you received a DSL modem from STI, you are already protected! STI subscribers can find links to firewall software programs (some fee-based, some free) at http://www.sti.net/members/m-downloads.html. Again, it's your choice.

Who is going to be using your computer today?

Next time: Why firewalls being stupid is a very good thing.

###