As a default, the Enable firewall check box is selected and the firewall is enabled.

• To disable the firewall, clear the check box. When disabled, there are no restrictions of incoming and outgoing communications to and from your computer.

Note: Disabling the firewall makes your computer vulnerable to attack.  

• To enable the firewall, select the check box.

As a default, the Start firewall when computer starts check box is selected and iolo Personal Firewall automatically starts when you start or restart your computer.

• To have the firewall not start automatically, clear the check box. The next time you start your computer, the firewall will remain shut down.

Note: Not running the firewall makes your computer vulnerable to attack.

• To automatically start the firewall after a start or restart, select the check box.

As a default, the Display network activity on homepage check box is selected, and when network activity is enabled, the bars in the Network Activity image indicate the activity of Internet traffic.

• To turn off the display, clear the check box. No bars will display:

• To turn on the display, select the check box. Bars of varying length will display to indicate activity:

As a default, the Show icon in tray when firewall is active check box is selected and the iolo Personal Firewall displays in your system tray when the firewall is enabled.

• To remove the icon from system tray, clear the check box.

• To display the icon in your system tray, select the check box.

Firewall notices are messages that display to give you information, but do not require a decision like the prompt windows do. See Communication Blocked (Port Closed Notice) for an example of a firewall activity notice.

 

As a default, the Display informational firewall notices check box is selected and these notices display.

• To stop showing firewall activity notices, clear the check box.

• To show firewall activity notices, select the check box.

The Maximum number of notices to display at one time option limits the total number of concurrent notices that can be displayed at once. (Several can show for a single communication attempt.)

If this maximum has been reached and another notice is generated, the oldest notice is closed and the newer one displays.

 

The default value is 25. You can enter from 2 to 50.

As a default, the Show prompts - only use default program permissions after [X] seconds option is selected and the default time for "X" is 15 seconds.

 

With this option selected, prompts will display. Then if the prompt window is idle for 15 seconds, the default program permission will apply.

• If you do not want to see prompts, select the Do not show prompts - automatically use default program permissions option.

 

This option will answer prompts that are generated (prompts can be generated in several different ways) and prompts will never display to you.

 

The action taken is either allow or block, depending on the default program permission.

• If you do want to see prompts, select the Show prompts - only use default program permissions after [X] seconds option.

 

Prompts will display.

 

If the window is idle for more than the specified time, the firewall responds using the default program permission, which is either block or allow.  

Note: To change the time from 15 seconds, enter a different value in the field. You can enter from 2 to 33 seconds.  

See Overview of Program Controls for more information on how these options work with other program controls.

 - meaning, you do not hover over the window with your mouse

As a default, the Show events for Internet Zone check box is selected and Internet Zone activity is logged on the Recent Firewall Events window and the Firewall Odometer.

• To stop showing the Internet Zone activity, clear the check box.

• To show the Internet Zone activity, select the check box.

As a default, the Show events for Trusted Zone check box is selected and Trusted Zone activity is logged on the Recent Firewall Events window and the Firewall Odometer.

• To stop showing the Trusted Zone activity, clear the check box.

• To show the Trusted Zone activity, select the check box.

As a default, the Show ICMP events check box is cleared and ICMP activity is not logged on the Recent Firewall Events window or the Firewall Odometer.

• To start tracking ICMP activity, select the check box.

• To stop tracking ICMP activity, clear the check box.

This option controls how many events display on the Recent Firewall Events window.

The default value is 25. You can enter from 2 to 100.

Click Clear All to remove all the events that are currently displaying on the Recent Firewall Events window.

 

This functions like a "Reset": all the events that currently display are cleared, but moving forward, events will still display.

IntelliDefense classifies a program attempting communication into one of five classifications, then the firewall takes a set action depending on that classification. (More on IntelliDefense).

As a default, the Enable IntelliDefense check box is selected and IntelliDefense is enabled.

• To disable IntelliDefense, clear the check box.

• To enable IntelliDefense, select the check box.

For programs classified as "Unknown" by IntelliDefense, you can have the firewall anonymously send iolo information about the program. The information will be reviewed to keep the database as current as possible.

As a default, the Automatically send details about unknown programs to iolo for research check box is selected and this feature is enabled.

• To turn off this feature, clear the check box.

• To turn on the feature, select the check box. Information about the programs will be automatically sent.

Note: Enabling this feature does not send any personal or identifying information to iolo. All information sent is confidential and used solely for program research by iolo's research team.

As a default, the Enable Stealth Mode check box is selected and Stealth Mode is enabled. To disable Stealth Mode, clear the check box.

 

When Stealth Mode is enabled:

• The firewall configures your PC to ignore incoming PINGs. The result is that your IP address will still be considered valid, but your computer will appear to be absent from the network.

• Incoming ICMP communication must be blocked. (See also  Allow ICMP communication below.)

 

When Stealth Mode is disabled:

• Your PC does not ignore incoming PINGs.

• Incoming ICMP communication must be allowed (See also Allow ICMP communication below.)

The ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) sends informational and error messages between hosts that are attempting to communicate.

 

As a default, the Outgoing check box is selected and ICMP outgoing messages are allowed; the Incoming check box is cleared to block incoming messages.

• For Outgoing, you can clear (block messages) or select (allow messages) the check box as desired.

• For Incoming, what you have selected for the "Enable Stealth Mode" check box controls what you can select here (and vice versa).

 

When Stealth Mode:

• Is enabled, incoming ICMP communication must be blocked.

• Is disabled, incoming ICMP communication must be allowed.

If a program changes characteristics (such as a signature or version information) and it has a program policy, either the same program policy can be used for the modified program or the policy can be discarded.

You can make this decision on the Keep Program Policy? prompt, or the firewall can make a decision using the default action set here. The firewall will make a decision if:

• The Prompt me if this program is modified check box for the policy is cleared.

• The Prompt me if this program is modified check box for the policy is selected, but the prompt has been idle for 15 seconds.

 

The default is Keep existing permissions; program policies for modified programs will be updated with new program characteristics. To set the default, select an option (one or the other must be selected).

• Select Discard existing permissions and delete the program policy to have the default action be a deletion of the existing program policy. No program policies will exist for the given program.

In this case, the firewall will treat modified programs the same way it treats programs without a program policy. (See Overview of Program Controls for a description of the flow of program controls.)

• Select Keep existing permissions and update the program policy to have the default action be an updating of the program policy with the new program characteristics.

In this case, the firewall will follow whatever actions you have set in the policy (block, prompt, or allow).

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The Windows operating system uses an important set of internal programs to send and receive communication. Communication from and received by these core programs is generally considered safe.

As a default, the Allow Windows system process communication (recommended) check box is selected and the firewall allows any communication originating from these system processes.

• To allow these communications, select the check box.

• To not explicitly allow these communications, clear the check box. Other firewall configurations related to these processes (for example, through a program policy) will apply.

If you use America Online (AOL) to connect to the Internet, select this check box.

Select this option if you use Apple's iTunes to purchase media or view streaming media. Selecting this option allows the access required by certain functionality in the iTunes program.

Note: This option does not control port access.

Skype is a software program that allows for Internet phone calls over a peer-to-peer network. Select this check box if you use Skype to make and/or receive phone calls.

World of Warcraft is a role-playing game in which a large number of players interact over the Internet. Select this check box if you play World of Warcraft.

The firewall recognizes the Microsoft Exchange connections that are used to send and receive email messages. This option allows you to open communication for programs that connect to Exchange (such as Microsoft Outlook).

As a default, the Allow Microsoft Exchange connections (recommended) check box is selected and communications are open.

• To explicitly allow communications, select the check box. Communication will be allowed as long as the port is open.

• To not explicitly allow these communications, clear the check box. Other firewall configurations related to these processes (for example, through a program policy) will apply.

This option controls incoming and outgoing communication for the Internet Explorer browser application (iexplore.exe).

As a default, the Allow Microsoft Internet Explorer® connections check box is selected and the firewall allows incoming and outgoing communication for Internet Explorer.

• To allow Internet Explorer communications, select the check box. Incoming and outgoing communication for Internet Explorer will be allowed, as long as the port is open.

Note: You can override this setting, for a Zone or for a direction, by creating your own program policy for iexplore.exe.

• To not explicitly allow Internet Explorer communications, clear the check box. Other firewall configurations related to Internet Explorer (for example, through a program policy) will apply.

A passive FTP connection is where the flow of data is set up and initiated by the FTP client rather than the FTP server. Passive FTP was created to address the problem of having the client wait for server contact.

 

As a default, the Allow passive FTP connections check box is cleared and passive FTP connections are not allowed.

 

To allow passive FTP connections, select the check box. The TCP ports used for passive FTP connections (typically between 1024 and 65535) will be open to traffic that is identified as passive FTP communication.

Note: Passive FTP connections pose a security risk by allowing applications to connect through a variety of ports.

These check boxes control whether Remote Desktop connections are allowed through the firewall. In addition to controlling the port for the Remote Desktop Protocol (TCP port 3389), the check boxes control other system settings that are part of this functionality.

As a default, the Outgoing check box is selected to automatically allow outgoing connections; the Incoming check box is cleared so that incoming connections are not automatically allowed.

• Select the Outgoing check box to automatically allow outgoing Remote Desktop connections from the computer with iolo Personal Firewall installed. Clear the check to not automatically allow the outgoing connections; other firewall configurations related to these processes (for example, through a Custom port setting) will apply.

• Select the Incoming check box to automatically allow incoming Remote Desktop connections to the computer with iolo Personal Firewall installed. Clear the check box to block the incoming connections; other firewall configurations related to these processes (for example, through a Custom port setting) will apply.

 

For Remote Desktop communications, the settings made here will override the Zone port settings for the defined port 3389; however, for other types of communication that may attempt access through port 3389, the Zone settings will still apply.

 

In other words, by allowing Remote Desktop connections here, you are opening port 3389 to Remote Desktop communication. But for other types of communication, whatever you have set for port 3389 in the applicable Zone will apply, whether that is to block or allow traffic.

When the firewall blocks an attack, all communication from the remote IP address that originated the attack will be blocked for [X] hours.

If your PC is being persistently attacked, this feature denies the communication at the root rather than processing it as potentially legitimate and then blocking it. This reduces the amount of processing overhead for both the operating system and the firewall.

The default time is 3 hours. You can enter from 2 to 99 hours.

You cannot enter increments of an hour (for example, 2.7 hours is not a valid entry).

• Select this option to turn off Internet Explorer's Protected Mode and allow iolo Personal Firewall to process all browser communication using its security policies.

• Clear the option to leave Protected Mode on, allowing certain communication to pass without scrutiny by the firewall.