Description:
As long as a computer is connected to the Internet--by phone line, DSL, cable, or any other means--it is vulnerable to myriad attacks from the cyber-equivalent of late-night stalkers. Norton Personal Firewall 2002 provides a virtual barrier to these attacks without requiring a doctorate in computer architecture to install and run. Getting started is fairly simple and very straightforward. Wizards scan the system for Net-enabled programs and watch for unusual requests for access from within and outside your computer or network. After the first day or two, most users will forget that the software is running: notifications come fast and furious at first and then taper off to one or two per day at most (depending on what the user is doing on the Net). The most noticeable change in the system is a very slight delay in loading Web pages, and this only for bulky sites. As with any computer security product, Norton Personal Firewall has an upper limit of protection it can offer, at which point the user's knowledge and expertise are required to go further. For most home users--unlikely but still possible targets for assault--Norton Personal Firewall 2002 goes far enough and should keep data safe from all but the savviest hackers. --Rob Lightner
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