The Best Settings for a Comodo Firewall
Set up correctly, a Comodo firewall monitors the doorway between your computer or computer network and the Web, disallowing access to any site or software program not on the Comodo “guest list,” thereby preventing hackers from accessing your computer, as well as preventing malware infections. Because it works behind the scenes, the best settings for your Comodo firewall make it for the most part invisible, appearing on your desktop only when a potential problem arises.
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Setup
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To optimize your Comodo firewall, take some action before you install it. Turn off or uninstall any native and third-party firewall programs. Open the Windows Security Center from the Control Panel and check to make sure you are not running the Windows firewall. More than one firewall is unnecessary, and can slow down your computer and create other problems.
Access
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When the installation is complete, a popup box appears. The setting you choose here is important because it acts as an all-or-nothing control mechanism that affects the other computers on your home network. Placing a check mark next to “I would like to be fully accessible to the other PCs in this network” gives all the computers on your network full access to the files on your computer, devices such as a printer connected to your computer, as well as full access to connect to the Internet at any time. If you work from home or bring work home, have children or for any reason want to control access to your computer or the Internet, removing the check mark gives you full control over the who, what and when of network and Internet access.
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Firewall Behavior
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Behavior is a filter setting accessible from the Firewall tab on the main navigation menu. The choice you make here is important, as it determines the overall strength of your firewall. Options range from “Block All,” which blocks all incoming and outgoing traffic, to “Disable,” which turns the firewall off. Here, “Safe Mode,” which is the default setting, is usually the best choice. Setting behavior to "Safe Mode" and then placing a check mark alongside “Create rules for safe applications” allows outgoing traffic to access the Internet, but stops inbound traffic unless it is certified as safe. One additional setting in this section determines whether you receive desktop alerts when your firewall blocks malware. Although the default setting is “do not show popup alerts,” removing the check mark and allowing alerts shows you where malware is coming from so you can choose to block the site, if necessary.
Program Settings
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A Comodo firewall comes with a library of “PC trusted applications” -- more than 2 million, according to company information -- that the firewall allows to pass freely into and/or out of your network without restriction. Any others -- including some you may use occasionally or regularly -- trigger an alert and require action on your part before incoming or outgoing communication can occur. Adjust your settings to add specific programs to your trusted applications list or block those for which you want to disallow access. Both settings are accessible from the Firewall tab on the main navigation menu, and both allow you to select files, folders and programs from a drop-down list.
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References
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