Windows 10: IP security/firewall service fees

I am getting several calls a week stating that my Microsoft Security contract is expiring and they are calling to renew for $1500. a year. Every time I hang up...the call comes from either Missouri, Texas, or Ohio. The phone connection is very scratchy and muted with a voice of a man of Indian decent...I am guessing....He wants to lead me through a complex process to cancel the service if I do not want to renew.

:)

 

Windows Firewall security alert keeps popping up.

Hello,

Windows Firewall plays an important part in helping to protect your computer against virus and security threats. Your concern is cause by a conflicting changes in your security settings. However we suggest that you turn off Security messages for Network
firewall temporarily to check if the issue persists. Follow these steps:

• Click Start menu.
• Type Control Panel.
• Choose System and Security > Security and Maintenance.
• On the left side, click Change Security and Maintenance settings.
• Uncheck the box on the left side of Network firewall.
• Restart your computer.

After an hour, enable Network firewall again. We also recommend that you use another browser and check if the issue persists.

Note: If you disable Windows Firewall for a long period of time, your computer will be more vulnerable to unauthorized access to your network.

Thanks.

 

Router Firewall?

Your router firewall lets you configure basic things like "Attack Protection", "DOS Protection" and service filtering with basic options for disabling HTTP, Telnet, FTP, TFTP, SNMP from external networks where you still get your internet from your ISP's gateway and every other communication from the WAN is blocked. You can also set up a service filter list in many cases. This is nifty. Though protection from the router isn't an alternative for even software firewalls, leave alone hardware ones. You will need a good software firewall such as free Zone Alarm / the firewall that comes with your security suite, if you're paranoid about security, else a properly updated Windows installation with the Windows Firewall is a good thing too.

 

firewall rule to block addresses NOT on an IP list?


I am just starting to learn the Windows Firewall (working on both Windows 7 and 10) and I'm not impressed with the inflexibility of its rules. I would like to know if


1. Is there is a way to do what I want with Windows Firewall?
2. Is there is a third-party firewall that would do it?


What I want to do is create a rule that blocks outgoing connections, for program X, that are to a destination **NOT** in an IP list.


Windows Firewall is not very flexible in how you specify IP list rules. When you give an IP list, your rule will match that list... you can't say "trigger the rule for non-matching IP addresses." Therefore to allow outgoing connections to a list, you have to


1. Change the entire firewall policy to block outgoing connections by default so that you can create an "allow rule" matching your list. This will mess up the rest of your programs.


2. Somehow combine a block rule and allow rule. Create a block rule for most traffic, with the "allow" rule overriding it when appropriate. However, this doesn't appear to be possible in general. It **may** be possible for connections that use IPSec, I'm not sure. And I'm not sure if I can use IPSec in my application.

And is there a third-party firewall that can do it? Most 3rd-party firewalls are LESS sophisticated than Windows Firewall, because the use case they are addressing is providing an interface that doesn't require much comprehension. I need one that's actually MORE sophisticated than Windows Firewall.