A firewall is a device that acts like a security cop, watching over your computer network to detect unauthorized access and activity. Every business and individual needs one.
However, your firewall is completely useless if it’s not set up or maintained properly. Your firewall needs to be upgraded and patched on a continual and consistent basis, with security policies and configurations set.
This is not something you want to try and handle on your own — you are best served by letting the pros handle that for you.
Alan Edwards, CISM, is chief information officer at Computerware, Inc., in Vienna, Virginia.