How to configure Windows 10 firewall

What is a firewall?

A firewall is a device which monitors and filters all the incoming and outgoing network traffic and prevents unauthorized access to/within the network. The firewall is the most important line of defense in maintaining the security of the network and the application. Every firewall has a set of rules predefined to allow type of data within the network; accordingly, it allows or denies the incoming traffic within the network.

Types of firewall

A firewall can either be hardware or software.

A hardware firewall can function at the network, transport and application layer of OSI model depending on the way traffic is being filtered. If a firewall filters traffic based on IP address, it operates at the network layer. If a firewall filters traffic based on port number, it operates at the transport layer, and if a firewall inspects protocol states or data, then it operates at the application layer.

Software firewalls usually are the ones built into the operating system by default. They come installed as a package when any operating system (Windows, Mac or Linux) is installed on the machine but they aren’t as effective and do not provide the all-around protection of the hardware firewall. It is always recommended to use both types of firewalls in a corporate environment, and software firewalls on personal systems/laptops.

Configuring firewalls on Windows 10

Since Windows is widely used at personal level, this article has been written specifically for configuring firewalls on Windows.

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These are the steps for opening any specific port on the Windows 10 firewall:

1) Search “firewall” and click on Windows Defender Firewall, as shown below:

2) Click on Inbound Rules, as shown.

3) Click on New Rule, select port and click Next as shown:

4) Enter a specific port number. In this case, (Read more...)