Evaluation Essay on Windows 7 Firewall

Introduction

Technological advancements come with security issues that any organization or firm should strive to prevent. Some of these problems include virus attacks and hacking. The right way to ensure the security of computers is by incorporating firewalls, whether personal or inbuilt in the operating system (OS). The focus of this essay is to evaluate the firewall in windows 7 OS. Windows 7 firewall is a basic security software based on rules or protocols that monitors and protects computers from the possible outbound and inbound network communications threats. The software also has certain limitations, depending on its application, but the benefits generally outdo these shortcomings. The following are some of the evaluations of the Windows 7 firewall.

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Windows 7 firewall is built-in and would install alongside the operating system (Hayajneh, Mohd, Itradat, & Quttoum, 2013). It contains more profile improvements than in the previous operating systems such as Windows Vista and XP. The firewall in Windows 7 add multiple access to the firewall profiles, therefore, protects the computer from each network in case of multiple connections. Most people connect to several networks and, with the windows 7 firewall, the administrators can access a configuration console, enabling them to have a granular control over the firewall rules as well as other settings.

Windows 7 firewall has the ability to filter traffics from networks. If a firewall state is set off, the security rules for firewall profiles will be bypassed or ignored. Therefore, the profile settings should always be on. Second, the inbound connections settings of the firewall when set to 'block', will reduce remote attacks (Salah, Calero, Bernabe, Perez, & Zeadally, 2013). The other profiles that windows 7 firewall will allow the user to have exclusive control over include the domain, private, and public notification displays in case of blocked sites, unicast responses, inbound connections, and connection security rules.

Firms and individuals need windows 7 firewalls for various reasons. First, computers would be connected usually through the DSL or cable modems to the internet, exposing them to security risks. Second, the users of broadband connections at homes may also be prone to high-security risks. Windows 7 firewalls secure the computers that connect the internet using the public WiFi. Hackers take advantages of these weaknesses if not secured. Therefore, the windows 7 firewall will safeguard the users by monitoring and blocking both outbound and inbound connection attempts, allowing selective access to the network using specification rules, stealth computer ports against hackers' tricks, logs activities that help in identifying unusual access attempts, blocking inappropriate websites through the parental control, isolating the browsers in a virtual packet block online threats from accessing data, and protecting against viruses and malware programs like Trojan horse programs (Hayajneh et al., 2013).

Despite the positive features and important functions of the windows 7 firewall, its application on IDS or deep-packet inspections is not very good. Also, the building of meaningful security rules in windows 7 firewall is a manual process (Salah et al., 2013). The learning mode mechanism, which detects in-build rules automatically for trusted connections lack in this firewall. It also lacks programs installation alerts to warn against potential malicious attacks, a common feature in sophisticated attack vectors. Nevertheless, it is still able stealth device and computer ports against hackers and prevents malicious software and viruses from transmitting crucial information over the internet.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Windows 7 firewall is an important security feature in computers that operate on windows 7. It should always be turned on to prevent users from malicious programs and hackers. The correct application of the firewall features is a great deal of security to the users.

References

Hayajneh, T., Mohd, B. J., Itradat, A., & Quttoum, A. N. (2013). Performance and information security evaluation with firewalls. International Journal of Security and Its Applications, 7(6), 355-372.

Salah, K., Calero, J. M. A., Bernabe, J. B., Perez, J. M. M., & Zeadally, S. (2013). Analyzing the security of Windows 7 and Linux for cloud computing. computers & security, 34, 113-122.