User`s guide

Chapter 4: Network Management 23
Making Your Network More Secure
Protecting the data and programs on your network computers from security threats,
such as computer viruses and hackers, is very important. The following sections
provide general information about steps you can take to protect your network.
Help Protect Your Network from Computer Viruses
To avoid having a problem with viruses on your network, consider the following
suggestions:
O
Install an antivirus program on each computer on your network and use it regularly
to check your computers for viruses. Remember to update the antivirus program on
a regular basis.
O
Learn the common signs of viruses: unusual messages that appear on your screen,
decreased system performance, missing data, and inability to access your hard
drive. If you notice any of these problems on your computer, run your antivirus
program immediately to minimize the chances of losing data.
O
Educate yourself about how viruses are commonly spread so that you do not spread
one yourself:
O
Do not load a program from an untrusted source onto one of your network
computers. Files from the Internet or online bulletin boards are particularly risky.
O
Never open attachments to e-mail messages that you are not expecting.
O
Use your antivirus software to scan all floppy disks before copying or opening
files from them, or before starting your computer from them.
Help Protect Your Network from Hackers
If you have not already done so, consider purchasing the Microsoft Broadband
Networking Wireless Base Station (sold separately) to establish a security layer
between your networked computers and the Internet. The Microsoft Wireless Base
Station provides network address translation (NAT) and a firewall to help secure your
system from hacker attacks over the Internet.
NAT hides the Internet protocol (IP) addresses of the computers on a network from the
Internet so that only the base station IP address is visible. Without the IP address, it is
more difficult for hackers to access the computers on your network.
The firewall specifies what information can be communicated from the computers on
your network to the Internet, and from the Internet to the computers on your network.
Like an actual firewall built to prevent fire from spreading between adjoining buildings,
computer firewalls help prevent the spread of unauthorized communication between
an individual computer or group of networked computers and the Internet.