There are several choices in software firewall out there, ranging from free to paid versions. Obviously, any company which offers a free version will attempt to upsell you to their paid version. The paid version has more robust features, but the free versions will still provide adequate protection.

I will run through a list of some of the common firewall titles out there shortly, but all of them share some common key features and take the same basic steps to set them up. Windows XP users are a bit different because Windows XP offers a built-in firewall. This is always an option for users, but Microsoft’s firewall is pretty barebone and it is generally recommended that you just turn this off and install a third party package. To enable the Windows XP firewall, go to right-click on My Network Places in the start menu and choose Properties. Right-click on the connection you wish to protect (”Local Area Connection” for example) and choose Properties. Go to the Advanced tab. Then, enable the check-box next to the option to protect the computer. Pressing OK will then turn on the built-in firewall. To set up a third party firewall, follow the instructions from that vendor. Ensure that the software is enabled to start when Windows starts. Most will place a small icon in your taskbar to notify you that it is running. Most firewalls also have an option to automatically check for updates. I generally recommend to enable this option so that you can keep your software current for the newest types of attacks.

Firewalls have multiple levels of protection, and they are set separately for the network and the programs which run on your machine. These levels of protection range from High/Medium/Low/Off. When it comes to the “internet zone”, I would recommend using the High setting. This provides maximum protection by blocking all internet access to Windows services and printers, blocking all unused ports, and enforcing strict control over the software. As you reduce the level of protection, your computer opens up to the internet. For example, the medium level will still protect your PC but will leave unused ports open for use from the internet. In some instances (such as servers), this may be desired in which case you would need to configure your firewall with more detail and using a more professional level firewall. The typical PC user though is not using their PC as a server and there is no need to have the PC listening to certain ports. To therefore leave them open to the internet just opens up a potential inbound road for hackers.

There is similar protection levels available for securing the software on your PC. Not only do these firewalls protect from inbound traffic, they also manage the outbound traffic. So, you can set the security level and control the level of internet access to your PC’s applications. Usually, setting this option to Medium is a good option. The software will then ask you each time a new piece of software asks for internet access. When you first install your firewall, it might take a little time to “train” the software on which applications are allowed to access the internet. Once you tell it that it’s OK, it will remember and not ask you again.

Some firewalls have what is called a “Trusted Zone” or a local zone which corresponds to your own local network. You generally want to have a lower level of security on this zone than on the internet so that you can communicate with other machines on your network and allow those machines to talk back to you. A medium setting will generally allow this.

Most firewalls have some additional features such as email scanning, cookie control or popup blocking. If you wish to use these settings, simply follow the instructions of your vendor.