12.0

Table 14-1
Firewall protection management (continued)
DescriptionTask
You can enable the default firewall protection or the
custom firewall protection.
See “About the default firewall protection” on page 133.
See “Enabling firewall protection” on page 134.
See “Adjusting the firewall security level” on page 134.
Enable firewall protection
Regularly check the firewall protection status on your
computers.
See “About monitoring endpoint protection” on page 69.
Monitor firewall protection
How the firewall works
Firewall protection prevents unauthorized users from accessing your computers
and networks that connect to the Internet.
The packets of data that travel across the Internet contain information about the
following:
■ Sending computers
■ Intended recipients
■ How the packet data is processed
■ Ports that receive the packets
A packet is a discrete chunk of data that is part of the information flow between
two computers. Packets are reassembled at their destination to appear as an
unbroken data stream.
The ports are the channels that divide the stream of data that comes from the
Internet. The applications that run on a computer listen to the ports. The
applications accept the data that is sent to the ports.
Network attacks exploit weaknesses in vulnerable applications. Attackers use
these weaknesses to send the packets that contain malicious programming code
to ports. When vulnerable applications listen to the ports, the malicious code lets
the attackers gain access to the computer.
Firewall protection works in the background. Firewall protection monitors the
communication between your computers and other computers on the Internet. It
creates a shield that allows or blocks attempts to access the information on your
computers. It warns you of connection attempts from other computers. It warns
Managing firewall protection
How the firewall works
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