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1月17日 Windows OneCare Firewall – Keepin’ it Green, Part IOne of the most interesting aspects of working on Windows OneCare is the ongoing focus we have on the overall status of our customers’ machines. Through a combination of surveys, emails and customer communication, we maintain a close watch on the “health” status indicators, such as, percent of users with anti-virus out of date, or the ratio of customers that are regularly backing up files.
As you probably know by now, we are laser-focused on the red/green percentage; it is our primary goal to ensure all our users’ machines are healthy and safe. So, when we see an increase in the number of “green” machines we are pleased, when we see an increase in the number of “reds” we start digging for more information. Recently, we have noticed a slight increase in the number of people turning off their firewall, with a corresponding decrease in the number of green machines.
Based on our investigation, there are four primary reasons people are turning off their firewall.
While we understand the rationale for each of these, let me quickly explain why the first three should not be reasons you keep your firewall off. For the first, if you do not have a software firewall enabled on your computer you are likely vulnerable. Some people believe they are sufficiently protected with a hardware firewall – these are often built in to a hub or wireless router. While hardware firewalls are certainly helpful, it is a well-known principle in computer security that software firewalls provide an essential layer of protection; you should not feel comfortable performing normal PC and network-related activities (email, IM, web surfing, etc.) without one. So, if you turned off the firewall because you thought it was unnecessary, please (please!) turn it back on.
For pop-ups, these can certainly get frustrating, particularly if you use applications that seem to cause frequent pop-ups. However, Windows OneCare is a two-way firewall, which means we programmatically inspect network traffic going in to your computer, and activity coming from your computer to ensure there is no communication happening that you don’t approve. For most applications, the pop-ups will either go away or diminish over time, as we validate the health or authenticity of the application. For other programs you may continue to see pop-ups; we’ll keep working to minimize these, but we strongly encourage you to keep your firewall on in the meantime, since the cost-benefit should be well worth it.
Third, when an application fails to install because of the firewall it can be particularly frustrating, and you may have turned off the firewall to get your application running. However, once that application is installed, you should turn the firewall back on and then “allow” the program if prompted.
The final reason for turning off your firewall – when an application simply won’t work properly – is entirely valid. We are constantly updating our firewall policy, and continue to make improvements to the Windows OneCare experience as it relates to application compatibility, so if you had a problem at one point that couldn’t be solved, it may be fixed already. However, as a beta user, if you continue to have problems we strongly encourage you to contact us. We can most effectively troubleshoot your issue if you don’t uninstall or disable, but rather work with us to figure out your problem first, which will in turn help us to solve any broader issues. We welcome your thoughts on this issue. In part II, I will respond to common themes in your comments, as well as highlight some of the options we are considering to help all users that should or could have their firewalls enabled. Thanks for being active participants in the ongoing success and value of Windows OneCare. コメント (89 件)
Windows Live OneCare Team
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