Today, Personal Computer’s (PC) working independently is of little use. Normally, desktop PC’s are interconnected with each other to share information and resources. The group of computers are grouped into Local Area Network (LAN) with the use of a Ethernet Adapter. Desktop computer are connected to other distant computer through the Internet.

Exposing a desktop computer to the Internet comes with lots of risk. A computer connected to the Internet is vulnerable to many attacks. No computer is safe when it’s connected to the Internet out of the box. Thus, network security experts are devising a plan to protect LAN desktop computer by putting them behind a router. This is a basic step in securing a network or a computer, but router’s does not provide a perfect security.

By the way, there is no such thing as perfect security. Computer Security is a cat and mouse game. We could only have several levels of security, and the most basic one is a router’s firewall. Router Firewall will provide adequate security at a reasonable price. The router firewall will act as a barrier for incoming traffic. In today’s world, there are many kinds of threat which could not possibly stopped by a firewall.

A router firewall should be used together with some kind of real-time antivirus scanning program. A router’s firewall has some limitation for it can only monitor and block incoming connections. Thus, desktop computer’s that has been infected already with a malicious program such as Virus, Spyware, or Trojan could usually do nothing to stop the outward flow of information which should supposedly be kept. There are firewall software though that will inform when programs tries to send out information.

A router firewall is better installed to protect and secure Internet connected desktop computer’s than no firewall at all. The advantages of having a router firewall installed out weights the security limitation. Modern Router’s have built-in firewall software embedded in the device, but it should be configured first to properly work with your environment.