Troy and Nick: Changing Windows Firewall and Securing Your Network.

Both of these skills are important tools to have in order to keep your network and personal information protected when using the internet. You may use these skills when your want to communicate with another computer without Windows Firewall blocking the connection, or you don't want some average Joe getting a hold of private information held on your network.

Navigate to control panel from the start menu.

Select the option "System and Security".

Select the option "Windows Firewall".

From here there are several firewall settings to change.

These include...

Change notification settings- This will allow the user to change what conditions Windows Firewall will notify them under.

Turn Windows Firewall on or off- Thisallows the user to turn Firewall on or off for both public and private networks.

Restore defaults- This sets the Firewall settings back to the default.

Advanced Settings- This allows you to specify the network permission status individual incoming and outgoing processes have.

For simplicity purposes, select "Turn Windows Firewall on or off"

Select the boxes that you would like to be active on both public and private networks.

If you wish for the Firewall to be on, you can specify (under each network type) if it blocks both all incoming connections and or notifies you when the Firewall blocks a new program.

If you wish for the Firewall to be off for either network type, just select the circle "Turn off Windows Firewall" under the designated network type.

When you have the settings you want, select the "ok"button at the bottom of the screen.

If you prefer specificity, select "Advanced Security".

Here you can select both Inbound and Outbound rules. Under either Outbound or Inbound rules, select the intended connection. Once you've specified the connection you want to edit, select the "properties" option in the right column.

Under the general tab you can specify multiple settings important to security.

You can disable the connection by unchecking the "Enabled" box.

Under the "Action" column, you can block the connection by selecting the circle next to "Block the connection", or you can allow the connection by selecting the circle next to either "Allow the connection" or "Allow the connection if it is secure".

Once you are done select the "OK" box at the bottom of the window.

There are multiple ways to secure your router.
We will show you how to change your routers network and firewall settings.

Open up command prompt.

Press windows + R and enter "cmd" in the text box.

Hit enter.

Type "ipconfig" and hit enter.

Locate your default gateway and enter it into the address bar of your search engine.

Login to your router.

Enter the username and password of your router and hit login. Usually the default username is admin and the default password is password. The interface of the router layout will vary depending on the network provider.

Once you are at the home screen navigate to the Wi-Fi settings.

For our router: Gateway->Connection->Wi-Fi.

Navigate to private Wi-Fi network were you will see your network name, MAC address, and security mode.

Select the EDIT button all the way to the right.

Here you will see that there are multiple options to edit for security purposes.

First, you can change your SSID name by entering a new name in the textbook next to "Network Name (SSID)".

Next, you'll see the security mode option. Make sure that it is set to a WPA/WPA2 setting if it is not already the default.

You can also edit the Network Password by entering a new password in the text box next to "Network Password"

And lastly, you can disable or enable the broadcasting of your network name by clicking the "Enabled" box that is next to "Broadcast Network Name (SSID)".

Navigate back to your router tool's home.

Navigate to your IPv4 or IPv6 settings under firewall.

For our router: Gateway->Firewall->IPv4/IPv6.

Once you have reached your firewall settings, choose the strongest level of security and select "save settings".

For our router: "Maximum Security (High)"