Firewalls explained

A firewall is basically a program that controls your Internet connection and blocks other computers from establishing a connection to your computer or stops malicious users from hacking into your computer and steal/destroy the data you have on your hard drive. A firewall is also a program that checks what programs on your computer are trying to connect to the Internet and while for some of the programs having a Internet connection is fine, hackers might put malicious scripts acting like programs (even taking name of familiar programs) and that when getting out on the Internet leak your info to the hackers that than can hack into your computer.

Here are some recommended firewall programs you can use:

Symantec Norton Firewall

This is one of the best firewall programs available and it comes at an affordable price. It blocks incoming/outgoing traffic and has all the features required and expected from a great firewall. It can also come included with Symantec Antivirus bundle and you can save a good amount of money on that offer. One of the major drawbacks of Norton security software is that they are known for their extensive resource use. Expect your computer to get a little slower but if that's the trade-of I have between having a secured computer, though slightly slower I'll take it any day of the week. Symantec Norton Firewall comes highly recommended.

Zone Alarm

Zone Alarm comes in two different versions light and pro. The light version is free and is a great bargain for users on a budget. It's extremely simple and does the jos wonderfully and you can't beat the price. The pro version on the other side has all the features you might expect from a great firewall program and if you opt for the pro version you'll have nothing to worry about. A drawback with Zone Alarm is that it's just a firewall program, unlike Symantec Norton Firewall you'll have to buy another program for anti virus protection and that's where the big advantage of Symantec Firewall lies.