Verizon | Broadband Essentials and Extras - How does the Firewall work?

How does the Firewall work?

Verizon Internet Security Suite Firewall helps prevent intruders from accessing your system when you are online. People with malicious intent can invade your computer to delete or corrupt files on your system, hunt down personal information stored on your computer, or even read your email.

Firewall has a few tools to help you control processes such as how your Internet-enabled programs connect to the Internet and how your Internet programs share files over the Internet. You set access rules to control how these processes are handled.

When a program accesses the Internet for the first time, Firewall prompts you to allow or block the network connection. You can see a list of blocked IP addresses in the Firewall — View Log list.

Before you set the Firewall tools in place, you must enable the Firewall.

Note: If you already have firewall software installed on your computer, you may experience conflicts between that software and Verizon Internet Security Suite Firewall. You may have to disable or remove your previously installed firewall software.

To enable Verizon Internet Security Suite Firewall

From the left menu bar, select Firewall.
Select Enable Firewall.

To set or change Internet Access Rules

From the left menu bar, select Firewall.
Select Internet Access Rules.
In the Programs column, select the program whose rules you want to set or change.
Change the rules for the program by selecting the icon for the rule. You can set rules to allow a connection, block a connection, or ask you before accessing the Internet.
Select OK.

Setting your preferences

The Preferences section lets you determine which warning messages the Firewall should display when it detects processes that it wants to block. Check the box for the messages you want displayed, then select OK.

Dropped Packet Warning Dialog. This means that an incoming or outgoing Internet communication was blocked.

Binary Integrity Warning Message (MD5 check). This means that the Firewall has found a change in one of your software programs that connects to your network or the Internet. MD5 is a tool that helps guarantee the integrity of data transferred over the Internet.

Ask before performing reverse DNS lookup. This lets you click a link to find out the name of the source or destination host of the IP address that your computer is connecting to. This tool lets you see the name of the source or destination host, and appears during a blocked packet alert.

Note: When you select the hyperlink, a prompt appears to warn you that you may be risking your privacy. When performing a reverse lookup, your IP address can be viewed by external sources.

Display connection notices. When a warning message appears, the current access rules that you've set for the software are also displayed.