Windows Firewall and Network Security

Windows External Settings

• Real-time Internet Channel Scan can scan all internet traffic, provide intrusion protection and detect unwanted software/applications before it arrives.

Firewalls

• Firewalls protect a computer from intrusion and attack, automatically configured when setting up security for a new network.
• A personal firewall protects a personal computer or other computers on a SOHO network.
• Firewalls filter inbound and outbound traffic.
• When setting up a SOHO network or a personal computer, configure a personal firewall on each computer.

Types of firewalls

• Network hardware firewall serves as a hardware firewall to protect the network.
• Network software firewall is redundant firewall and application firewall, which is software installed on a computer.
• Personal firewall is a personal firewall or application firewall to protect a personal computer.
• Three types of firewalls are used to protect a network and individual computers on the network: network hardware, network software and personal firewalls.

Configuring Security Levels For Network Connections

• The way to set the security for network connections is to open the Network and Sharing Center in Control Panel and click Change Advanced Sharing Settings.
• You can choose specific options for each profile, or let Windows create a separate network profile for each network you use.
• Options for Windows 10/8/7 are private and public profiles.

Internet Options

• Some web servers use HTTP with the SSL or TLS protocols (called HTTP Secure or HTTPS) to secure transmissions to and from the web server.
• To get information about the site security, click the padlock that appears in the browser address box when HTTPS is used.
• If you have a problem with Internet Explorer 11, try installing Windows updates, applying a restore point, or refreshing Windows 10/8.
• When you click the Tools icon and click Internet Options, the Internet Options box appears.
• Another method is to click Internet Options in the Classic view of Control Panel.
• The Internet Options box contains the General, Security, Privacy, Content, Connections, Programs, and Advanced tabs.

Internet Options Tabs

• Use the General tab can change the home page or add a second home page.
• To delete what Internet Explorer has kept of browsing, click Delete in the Browsing History box, and deselect the first item.
• To maximize the allowed space used for temporary Internet files and control its location, on the General tab, click Settings In the Temporary Internet Files and Website Files box.
• You can set a zone security level on the Security tab.
• The Internet, medium-high is default value.
• ActiveX control is a small app or add-on that can be downloaded from a website along with a webpage and is executed by Internet Explorer to enhance the webpage.
• Use the Privacy tab to block cookies that might invade your privacy or steal your identity.
• The Privacy tab is used to control the Pop-up Blocker.

Programs Tab

• The Programs tab displays multimedia content, manage email, translate text, or other actions.
• The Programs tab, click Manage add-ons to open the Manage Add-ons box.
• In the left pane under Show, all add-ons installed on the computer can be selected.
• An add-on can be selected and click Enable or click Disable.
• Downloaded ActiveX controls and add-ons can be uninstalled using this window.
• You can also uninstall downloaded add-ons using the Programs and Features window in Control Panel.

Advanced Tab

• The Advanced tab contains several miscellaneous settings used to control Internet Explorer.
• This tab resets Internet Explorer to all default settings if there are problems with the settings.

BIOS/UEFI Authentication

• BIOS/UEFI firmware on the motherboard offer password protection for a drive lock password(required to change BIOS/UEFI setup) and a user password (required to use the system or view BIOS/UEFI setup).
• Firmware may offer a drive lock password, which is required to accesses the hard drive; and a user password for the system as well.
• A BIOS/UEFI setup Security screen can be seen where you can set the Administrator and User passwords.

Managing User Credentials

• Open the Credential Manager applet in Control Panel to manage passwords and digital certificates stored on a Windows computer.
• The Windows Credential allow you to manage web credentials and Windows credentials.

Local Group Policy and Local Security Policy Editors

• Windows offers multiple options to ensure security measures protect resources.
• Three tools can control policy: the Local Group Policy, the Local Security Policy and Active Directory.

Password Creation

• To create strong passwords, follow the requirements for creating passwords in Windows.
• Some requirements include: not using words in any language, not using numbers or symbols alone, not using names, not using adjacent keys on your keyboard, and using 16 or more characters etc.

File and Folder Encryption.

• Files and folders can be encrypted using the Windows Encrypting File System (EFS).
• To encrypt a folder, right-click it and open its Properties box.
• On the General tab, click Advanced.
• Check Encrypt contents to secure data and click OK.
• In File Explorer, encrypted file and folder names are displayed in green by default.

BitLocker Drive Encryption

• Windows professional and business editions locks down a hard drive by encrypting the entire Windows volume and restricting access by requiring one/two encryption keys.
• Three ways to use BitLocker Drive Encryption depend on the type of protection and the computer hardware available: Computer authentication(Trusted Platform Module) chip, User authentication, Computer and user authentication.

User Accounts in User Groups

• Computer users should be classified to determine the privileges they need to do their jobs.
• The support technician will be responsible to make sure the user account assigned to the employee has the privileges and no more,.

Types of User Accounts

• When using the User Accounts applet in Control Panel to manage user accounts, one can choose between two account types: Administrator or Standard to create an account.
• When use Local Users and Groups in Computer Management to create an account, the account type is automatically a Standard user.

Built-in User Groups

• A user account can belong to one or more user groups.
• By default, Administrator accounts belong to the Administrators group, and standard user accounts belong to the Users group.
• The Guests group has limited privileges on the system.
• Older editions of Windows have a Power Users group that can read from and write to parts of the system other than its own user profile folders.

Methods to assign permissions to folders and files:

• Workgroup sharing: privileges/permissions are set up on each local computer so that each computer access to its files, folders, & printers shared on the peer-to-peer network.
• Domain controlling: In a Windows computer belonging to a domain instead of a workgroup/homegroup, all security should be managed by the network administrator for the entire network.

Share Permissions

• Share Permissions are set up to grant different users or user groups different levels of access to shared resources.
• Steps on how to use Share Permissions: Open the Properties box for the folder on a FAT volume and select the Sharing tab and click Advanced Sharing.
• Check Share this folder and then click Permissions.
• Add the select users or groups box and click OK.
• Select the user/group that needs limited
• To delete the Everyone group, select it in the Permissions box and click Remove.

Support and Troubleshoot Shared Folders and Files

• If you have problems accessing a shared resource, follow these steps: Troubleshooting, Open the Network and Sharing Center, Verify that the settings are default etc..
• If you want a Windows 8/7 computer to access Homegroup resources, select Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections.
• If you want to share the Public folder to the network, go to the Public folder sharing section and select Turn on sharing.