Is An Outbound Firewall on Your Laptop or Desktop PC Really Helpful?
Viruses are one of the major threats to your properly functioning PC as they carry the potential to steal or ruin important data, software, and hardware components to an irreparable extent. Antivirus, antispyware, and other security programs offer security shield to your systems and make them ready to fight with all the latest malware and other online threats released in the market. Microsoft’s Windows has a built-in firewall feature that blocks unreliable connections to restrict the entry of such threats in your device. If a program wants to act as a server, Windows will inform you immediately, but it won’t offer the same prompts for outgoing connections.
But, have you ever thought that an outbound firewall can give your laptop or desktop an extended security cover? If yes, then read the article below to understand the actual picture of this.
Outbound Firewalls vs. Inbound Firewalls
The inbound Windows firewall only shows you an application-related firewall prompt, when an application wants to function as a web server. Whenever, you install web server software, a BitTorrent client, or host a game server, you’ll be prompted with a message saying the application wants to function as a server. After seeking approval from you, the application can then receive incoming connections from the Internet or your local network.
Why outbound firewalls are pointless?
Often, tech experts claim that outbound firewalls aren’t a useful security tool for the average user as neither it can restrict the entry of the malware nor can delete it. Below mentioned points can throw light on the basic reasons why outbound firewalls aren’t a preferred choice for enhancing device’s security.
Outbound firewalls can only prevent apps on your PC from connecting to the Internet. But, if a piece of malware is trying to connect to the Internet that clearly states that it’s running on your device.
If malicious codes were running on your machine and had access to your system, it is quite possible that it has already opened its own holes in your firewall software.
Malware can act as a stealer for other programs to communicate over the Internet. It is quite obvious that a password stealer will capture all your details and send it across to the malware author hence, outbound firewall cannot do anything in this scenario.
Outbound firewalls aren’t considered as an effective defense against malware, although using an effective antivirus program and keeping them up-to-date will protect you from a lot of threats. A complete antivirus program will always act as a stubborn shield between your PC and other programs, and doesn’t allow any harmful codes to load in your Windows registry.
The best precaution for this situation is to deny to run an application that you don’t trust on your PC. If your application isn’t trustworthy and demanding an access to the Internet, then you’re likely making a mistake by allowing it to do so. Allow only the trusted applications to fully access your system and Internet connection as these are safe and don’t possess malware downloads. Instead of opting for an outbound firewall feature, users should try to create advanced firewall rules in their existing firewall protection.
How to create advanced firewall rules in the Windows firewall?
Windows’ built-in firewall is capable enough to restrict some serious threats on your PC by possessing the ability to create powerful firewall rules. You can easily block programs from accessing the Internet and use a white-list technique to offer Internet access to selected programs. Outbound firewalls can be used to meet specific needs of preventing a selected application from connecting to the Internet.
Blocking an application from connecting to the Internet doesn’t require a mandatory install of a new firewall however, you can use the Windows Firewall With Advanced Security administration tool to do the same. Create an advanced firewall rule to block the application from connecting to the Internet and save the changes to bring this rule in action.
Can you install a third party firewall to add security to your server and device?
You can easily install a third-party firewall on your Windows computer to seek outbound firewall capabilities. An efficient firewall will control the applications from getting connected to the Internet and will also inform you about the suspicious activities performed on your PC. You cannot command your system to stop all the external websites or apps connected to the Internet from accessing to your apps as almost every application on your computer is likely connected to the Internet. The daily routine of getting connected to the Internet includes checking and downloading of updates, syncing apps online for a better experience, and connecting to cloud storage sites for safety of data and backups.
What are the disadvantages of installing outbound firewall?
Although, outbound firewalls aren’t actively harmful, but they are heavier than the built-in Windows firewall and will take up more system resources. In addition to this, it will often force you to upgrade to a paid version as a full Internet security suite and will also add other programs to your device, which you in fact don’t need.
Its installation can even make you more annoyed and confused as you’ll have to make decisions about which applications can connect to the Internet and which cannot. You’ll probably want to allow most of them, but selecting each one of them again and again can be really a painful task. An average geek may accidently allow an infectious program to get connected to the Internet and may result in violating the security of the device as a whole.
If you’re experienced and have a lot of time for the programs on your PC, then install a third-party firewall and make most of it by allowing restricted access to the Internet. But such tools aren’t a boon for average users as they may find it quite irritable and annoyed. Some outbound firewalls try to ease the burden by allowing several programs to get connected to the Internet without any prompts, but it can be dangerous also. A computer program may not be able to make an appropriate decision and may end up surrendering the security of your device to online threats. The list of blocked programs can be modified by a potential malware hence, put your entire system available for virus attacks. In such situation an antivirus will be more effective hence, choose the advanced one and check for its regular updates.
