I have talked about firewalls and how it is configured to secure your computer from malicious access but it seems that I have failed to even mention the one that comes bundled with Ubuntu, Firestarter. Firestarter is an easy to use firewall with the following key features:
- Open Source software, available free of charge
- Easy to use graphical interface
- Suitable for use on desktops, servers and gateways
- Enables Internet connection sharing
- Allows you to define both inbound and outbound access policy
- Option to whitelist or blacklist traffic
- Sets up DHCP for a local network
- Real time firewall events view
- View active network connections, including any traffic routed through the firewall
- Advanced Linux kernel tuning features
Whilst Ubuntu comes with this pre-installed, here is a good how-to in setting it up properly.
Image from Flickr:spielzimmer.