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Risks - Firewalls - Study Guide

Firewalls

Study Guide

  • Should you have a firewall?

    • As an article from the ITS department of the University of Hawaii points out, it is everyone's responsibility to ensure that they are properly protected from outside attacks. This includes security systems such as firewalls, anti-virus software, and common sense.
    • Why should you, as the administrator, secure your home computer? A business network? What are the ethical repercussions of failing to provide a sufficient level of security?

  • How much protection is too much?

    • Mainland China has instituted a nation-wide "Great Firewall of China" as part of a system designed to censor the internet and, with it, the flow of information. To counteract this, numerous Chinese hackers and protest groups have found ways to circumvent the security via numerous methods. Does China have the right to censor the internet, and is it ethical to circumvent their system?
    • In some cases, having a firewall or other form of internet security system that is too restrictive can actually create an incentive for people to circumvent them. How can one keep the users happy while protecting the system?
    • If your firewall is too protective, using the internet can become an exercise in frustration -- you cannot receive any information. However, if you loosen up the firewall to utilize the programs you need, then you run the risk of leaving security holes.

  • Firewalls and the Workplace

    • It is usually against most company policies to play games while on company time, and on company equipment. In a discussion found on the Computing.net website, someone posted a question asking the general public whether or not he should report a co-worker for playing games while working.
    • If the company's firewall was not sufficient enough to stop the co-worker from playing the game, should it be someone else's responsibility to report them?