Spies: Spies are out to get secret information. It may be difficult to detect break-ins by spies since they will probably leave no trace if they get what they are looking for.

A personal firewall, therefore, is one of methods you can use to deny such intrusions.

How Firewalls work? Firewalls basically work as a filter between your application and network connection. They act as gatekeepers and as per your settings, show a port as open or closed for communication. You can grant rights for different applications to gain access to internet and also in a reverse manner by blocking outside applications trying to use ports and protocols and preventing attacks. Hence you can block ports that you don’t use or even block common ports used by Trojans.

Using Firewalls you can also block protocols, so restricting access to NetBIOS will prevent computers on network from accessing your data. Firewalls often use a combination of ports, protocols, and application level security to give you desired security.

Firewalls are configured to discard packets with particular attributes such as:

Specific source or destination IP addresses. Specific protocol types TCP flags set/clear in packet header.

Choosing a firewall: Choose firewalls which have ability to ward of all intrusion attempts, control applications that can access internet, preventing malicious scripts or controls from stealing information or uploading files and prevent Trojans and other backdoor agents from running as servers.

The purpose of having a firewall cannot be diminished in order to gain speed. However, secure, high-performance firewalls are required to remove bottleneck when using high speed Internet connections. The World-Wide-Web makes possible generation of enormous amounts of traffic at click of a mouse.

Some of good firewall performers available in market are below:

•BlackICE Defender •eSafe Desktop •McAfee Personal Firewall •Neowatch •Norton Personal Firewall •PGP Desktop Security •Sygate Personal Firewalls •Tiny Personal Firewall •Zone Alarm •Zone Alarm Pro

Most of these firewalls are free for personal use or offer a free trial period. All personal firewalls available can’t ensure 100% security for your machine. Regular maintenance of machine is needed for ensuring safety.

Some of tasks advised for maintaining system not prone to intrusions:

•Disable file and print sharing if you are not going to be on network. •Update your antivirus signature files regularly. •Use a specialized Trojan cleaner. •Regular apply security patches to your software and operating system. •Don’t open email attachments if you have don’t know contents it may contain. •Don’t allow unknown applications to access to internet or to your system. •Regularly check log files of your personal firewall and antivirus software. •Disable ActiveX and java and uninstall windows scripting host if not required. •Turn off Macros in Applications like Microsoft Office and turn macro protection on. •Check open ports of your system and see them against common list of Trojans ports to see if they are being used by some Trojan. •Log Off from your internet connection if not required. Being online on internet for long duration gives any intruder more and sufficient time to breach system security. •Unplug peripherals like web cam, microphone if they are not being used.

* Turn a message into an appointment or task.

What's quickest way to deal with an email inviting you to a meeting or event?

Drag message onto your Calendar and a new appointment will be created. The entire message will appear in details section - all you need to do is edit subject line, location, date and time! Send an RSVP if necessary, and now you can delete email!

Not sure if you're going to attend? Set "Show time as" to "Tentative" and appointment will display with a dashed border rather than a solid one. In this case you should also drag message onto your Task Pad and a new task will be created. Edit subject line to be a reminder to register for event, and set due date early enough that you won't miss out if you decide to go.

* Print pages for your paper planner.

If you like idea of using Outlook calendar, but are more comfortable using a paper planner, Outlook allows you to print pages in daily, weekly or monthly layouts, formatted to fit a variety of commercial planners. Print whole year, or just today's schedule!

* It's not just about work.

There are many websites that allow you to download schedules right into your Outlook calendar, including sports teams and TV stations, among many others. You'll never have to miss your favorite team or show, and just think of time you'll save!

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