Given the rise in numbers of computer hackers, scammers and viruses around the Internet, you should install a firewall. Between your computer and data that is entering it, this is your first line of defense. With one, you can avoid dangerous attacks that can wipe out your data or steal personal information.

Since there are a wide variety of firewalls available, including those from major corporations such as Microsoft, you first need to determine what kind of firewall your PC requires.

It is likely that your firewall will already be set up and ready to use if your computer came with the Microsoft XP or Vista operating system installed, but may need some tweaking if you are using addons such as broadband telephony on your computer from one of the many Voip companies. However, you do need to make sure that it is turned on and working properly. You need to purchase your own software if you do not have one of these later operating systems. Even with Microsoft XP, you may still want to purchase separate firewall software since the XP version doesn’t get great reviews.

You can either visit a store that sells computer software or download a firewall product through the Internet - the most popular products available are Norton, AVG and McAfee. The price of software varies depending on how sophisticated it is but there are also plenty of low cost versions available, even from the big name companies.

The functions that you need, such as file and printing sharing, must not be blocked by the program. Settings can be configured during installation or at a later date using the documentation provided.

Access to certain parts of the Internet is limited by a firewall. Awareness of how you connect is important as if you use a local area network or a router, this could happen. When you have installed a firewall in place, secured networks in particular are difficult to access. Installing a firewall to a pc linked to a company network may require a specific settings configuration to allow you to connect to them and this can be provided by a company’s IT department.