Personal computer firewalls are something that many home users are aware of, but aren’t actually sure if they are installed. Business environments are a bit different when it comes to firewall protection. They want it, they need it, and they pretty much go out of their way to make sure employees know they have it. Since businesses can’t depend on employees to have enough common sense to not download things from people they don’t know (after all, many of us do receive legit work-related emails from names we’ve forgotten or never knew in the first place) or install things they really shouldn’t be installing, firewalls are still necessary.

At home, the story is changing. Many home PC users are now interested in wireless home networks. When you get one of these fine set-ups, you get a wireless router. The wireless router should have options for creating a secure,

password-enabled network so neighbors and kids biking by with their laptops open (ha ha) can’t just log on and steal whatever is exposed, simply because you wanted the convenience of not tripping over wires and cables.

When you properly enable a home router to be secure and inaccessible to those without the secret codes, that router now functions as your personal firewall. Don’t let the fact that your employers don’t trust you convince you that you need to spend yet more money on software that says “firewall”. And when you do get those lovely reminders at work of their firewall, well, grin and bear it. It’s not likely to change anytime soon.