Athol Cohen & Associates
Computer and Network Support for Small Businesses
in the Greater Toronto Area

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Home > Computer Security > Data Security & Firewalls

Data Security & Firewalls

Data Security:

  • What do you know about basic data security?
  • Is your system protected from unwanted use?

Windows permits you to create user accounts and passwords. You also have the ability, if you’re using Windows NT technology (Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP) to protect your data from “unauthorized eyes.” If you are not using accounts and password protection, you might want to consider implementing this feature (or is it a function?)

Firewalls:
Why have a firewall and what will it do for you? The term “fire wall” means, a fireproof wall, intended to prevent the spread of fire from one room or area of a building to another. The Internet is generally viewed as being a relatively unsafe environment (with viruses, spyware and hackers able to get into your system or network!) From an IT perspective, “firewall” is an excellent metaphor for network security.

Firewalls protect your network and system from unauthorized intrusion. It isolates your internal network from the external network — normally the Internet.

NAT is an acronym for Network Address Translation. It is a commonly used IP (Internet Protocol) translation and mapping technology. It is a technology that allows your network to share Internet access. NAT also keeps your network secure from hackers.

NAT is built in to the most common Internet Connection Sharing technologies around. Cable/DSL broadband routers available today accomplish the task using NAT.

NAT acts as an interpreter between the two networks that come into play. The internal network and the external or public network (normally the Internet). The NAT device (your router) will create a managed “channel” between your computer and the destination computer via the Internet. When the destination/public computer returns results from the request, it is passed through to the NAT device to the requesting computer.

We can perform an assessment on your computer and network to see if you have the proper security and firewalls in place. Please call us for a free consultation.