With everything and with this, these are not the only solutions by way of protection that we can use in the most recent versions of windows. We tell you this because the operating system at the same time makes other functions and integrated applications available to us that will help us. For example, we must take into account that the activity carried out on the network by a specific application can be dangerous.
This is something that becomes especially evident in the event that this software is malicious without us knowing. In this way, in the event that we suspect that an installed application has network activity not allowed, even without being sure, we must act. The first thing we should do is try to uninstall it, for example, from the System Control Panel.
But that’s not all, as well as uninstalling it, we can also block its access to the network and thus minimize the risks. Of course, these types of malicious acts often take place in the background, all without our being fully aware of it. But the blocking of certain software is not only extensible to malicious applicationsbut to other types.
Check if Windows Firewall is turned on
To check if we have the Windows firewall activated, controlling and blocking connections and programs, what we must do is open Microsoft Defender, and look for the “Firewall and network protection” section. This section will allow us to see the network shields that are active and working. In fact, if we use Microsoft Defender as an antivirus, it will be in charge of supervising the operation of the firewall and, if it is not activated, it will repeatedly show us messages informing us about it and urging us to activate it if we want our computer to be protected at all times. .
As we can see, there are 3 types of firewalls. The first one is in charge of controlling the domain network (if we belong to one, for example, in a company), and the other two allow us to choose the type of protection we want to have depending on whether we connect to a private network (for example, at home, much more permissive), or to a public network (in a bar or station, much more restrictive).
If the firewall is activated, when a program tries to connect to the Internet we can see a message like the following:
From this message we can allow or block the Internet connection of the program in question. We can choose if we want the program to be able to connect through private networks, public networks, or any type of network (checking both boxes). We click on “Allow access”, and that’s it.
If we block the connection, we will have to manually search for the rule created to modify it and allow said program to connect to the Internet. And, in the opposite case, if we want a program that we have allowed to not be able to connect, the same thing. And this is what we are going to learn next. Any application that we install on the computer, including web browsers, the first time we run them, they will ask us to give them the corresponding permissions to be able to access the Internet through Windows firewalls. If we don’t give it those permissions, it will never be able to connect to the internet.
The firewall is responsible for protecting our equipment from any application that we download to the equipment. In this way, if we install any application, if by its nature it does not need the Internet to work and asks us for permission to connect, it is a clear sign that it wants to do something for which it was not initially planned, so now is the time to make sure if you really need the internet to perform your function. If not, the only reason you may need the internet is to send data from our computers to other servers, basically to steal information from our PC.
Block or allow a program to access the Internet
For example, this is useful if we know that a program tends to consume a lot of network bandwidth while running in the background. Therefore, at this point, we can use a rule of firewall integrated into it windows to block network access for that program, or any other third-party Firewall. In addition, this is something that we can carry out in a simple and effective way. For all this, the first thing we do is open the Control Panel and we place ourselves in the group of Security system.
Then we have to click on the Windows Defender Firewall option, although we can also access it in other more complex ways. Thus, in the window that opens below, we click on Advanced settings located in the left column. Keep in mind that for these changes that we are going to make, we need to have administrator permissions.
View the list of created rules
At this point, the security window will open and Windows Defender Firewallso in the left section we see an option called Outbound Rules, which we click on.
Each of the entries is a rule that has been created for a particular program, service, or protocol. Those that appear in green are entries to allow specific connections, while those that appear in red block connections. We can also filter by input rules (those that allow or block connections from outside to the PC) and output rules (those that allow or block connections from the PC to the outside).
Create a new rule
Next, we have to create a new rule, something that we find on the right side of the main Firewall interface, as we mentioned. In this way, in the window that opens we select Program and click Next. In the next screen we will have to indicate to the functionality, the application path that we want to block right now. In this way and after selecting the corresponding executable file that interests us here, in the following screens we do not have to modify any more parameters.
We can create a rule to allow or block a program entirely, or customize the rule so that the program can use only certain ports or certain connections. That already depends on our needs, and the knowledge we have.
Of course, what we have to do is necessarily specify a name for the new rule that we have defined. It is recommended that this be somewhat descriptive about what the rule itself actually does. Therefore, once we have followed the steps that we have mentioned, it will be activated by default. As we will see later, the next time the application in question tries to establish a Internet connection to download something, you won’t be able to.
At the same time, we must bear in mind that we will not be able to know that Internet access has been blocked at the level of Firewall. Therefore, it is recommended that we write it down or remember it well in case we need the program to be able to connect again later.
Third party firewalls
It is important to always have an application on our computer that is in charge of managing the internet connections of all the applications we have on our computer to prevent malicious applications from sending stolen data from our computer.
Third-party antivirus
If we have a third-party antivirus installed, be it Kaspersky, McAfee or Bitdefender, we must take into account that these applications include their own firewall, so when installing them, deactivate Microsoft Defender and everything related to the protection it offers us, such as the firewall case. Each antivirus works differently when it comes to allowing and blocking applications through the firewall, so if we have any questions, the best thing we can do is visit the developer’s support pages.
The main advantage of using Windows Defender as an antivirus and firewall is that it is an application that is integrated into the system, so the number of resources it consumes is very small, if not non-existent, unlike third-party applications. And, when it comes to virus detection, it has nothing to envy to paid solutions.
Firewall App Blocker
It is true that the process to allow or block a program in Windows is a horror. Luckily, there are programs that greatly simplify this task and allow us to block or unblock firewall programs very easily with a few clicks and without very complex terms. One of the best is FAB, or Firewall App Blocker.
This program allows us to add programs to the firewall list very quickly and easily. We just have to run the tool, and create a new rule from it. We can add the program from its installation path, or directly from the process, in case we have already executed it.
Do you want to make things easier for yourself? You can download this program totally free from the . Microsoft should change the way certain applications work to offer a simpler user interface or perhaps add a wizard that helps users with low knowledge to be able to carry out this type of task without having to resort to applications of third parties.
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