A Firewall... for SOFTWARE.
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 12/12/2014 1:00:00 AM
Why are there no firewalls for software on regular computers?
I've had a computer since the 70s, and I've seen so many people lose all their family photos, videos and other important files because they were too inexperienced to know when they were installing a malicious program.
I can't blame them. As doctors, lawyers, and business executives, they were all very intelligent people, but time and time again, they would come to me to help them get their files back. The reason they were victims of these kinds of software attacks was because they never imagined that the programs they were running were specifically designed to destroy their files, and in some cases steal information or money.
Don't most computers already have a Firewall?
No. What most computers have is an Internet Firewall which is like an Internet traffic manager, regulating what information flows in and out of network connections. The main purpose is to prevent other computers from gaining access to your computer.
How would a Software Firewall would work on a regular computer?
By default, any program you run would only have access to files in a designated folder created just for that program. In order to give that program access to any other folder, you would configure the Software Firewall for the type of access you will allow, such as read only access, or full control.
While this does create an extra step, it would draw your attention to any program that tries to access an unexpected folder. For example, if you downloaded a game, and that game tries to access one of your QuickBooks or Excel files... you wouldn't allow it, and you would know that the game was actually a virus. If the program was blocked from changing your operating system folders, it could easily be removed.
An example Software Firewall... iPad / iPhone.
Right now, the only place you can experience a "Software Firewall" is using an Apple iOS device like an iPhone or iPad. Because these devices were designed from the ground up to be secure, they have a feature that only gives to access files and folders specifically designated to that particular program. Any other files on your device are completely blocked and inaccessible.
This means that even if a program has some hidden malicious intention, it can't access any of your other documents. They are essentially behind a firewall. In some cases, a program is given access to your photos, but because it can only read your photos, it can only save modified copies of your photos, and never touch the originals. This is on reason you don't need to install an anti-virus on an iPad.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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