The new Windows Firewall is ready to go

Microsoft has announced the completion of a new firewall that will host Windows Vista and, unlike the current version, will be able to protect outbound traffic.

Just a month ago, Microsoft allowed its testers to examine its latest firewall software. Today it turned out that the application is ready for the first "deployment". The firewall will first be available in the next version of Windows, Vista. Compared to the integrated firewall of Windows XP, it contains more advanced solutions and is suitable for examining not only incoming but also outgoing data traffic. As a result, it is able to block not only those computers that want to gain unauthorized access to the system to be protected, but also those applications that would perform malicious operations over the Internet. Austin Wilson, a Microsoft executive, said that the new firewall will also help create a secure IT environment in corporate environments, as it will be easy to control, for example, which instant messaging applications users can use.

Wilson’s report revealed that the new firewall can be configured in basically two ways. In one case, you can specify the firewall settings for that PC. In the other case, however, it is also possible to use Active Directory. According to Wilson, up to ten thousand PCs can be set up at the same time. For example, if an application needs to be blocked, it can be done very quickly for up to thousands of computers.

Wilson said the algorithms for the firewall have been rewritten by the developers to make it work more efficiently than before. In addition, a key aspect of the development was to make the firewall work better with the Windows kernel. In the near future, Microsoft will need to make sure that the new firewall meets the compatibility requirements for different applications.