Microsoft's Charles Fitzgerald once said, "If you want security on the Net, unplug your computer." There's now another option: Norton Firewall. Don't get too excited though. Symantec's Norton Firewall accomplishes the difficult task of securing your computer in almost the same way as unplugging your Internet connection. To explain, indulge me in a short trip down memory lane and a small moral object lesson.
I was raised in an environment where the authority figures around me had a hard time modulating the balance between excess and modesty. For example, many who guided my moral education believed that alcohol was evil. The belief wasn't merely that alcohol could cause evil or that it could be used by evil people. Rather, the teaching was that the substance itself was somehow evil. I think the belief sprang from the fact that alcohol can be abused and cause lots of personal and social heartache. But instead of teaching moderation, and providing education on developing the discipline of avoiding excess, my moralist elders demonized the substance and demanded that people entirely refrain from drinking alcohol. In many ways, while this approach was pretty effective in keeping people away from the dangers of alcohol, it taught us relatively nothing and prevented people from enjoying many of the healthy and wonderful things about a fine scotch or a perfectly aged Merlot. Looking back, the approach now strikes me as a bit lazy. It's much easier to demonize something entirely and avoid dealing with it altogether than it is to accept that it can be used for evil or good and to do the really hard work of figuring out which is which.
This anecdote does relate to Norton Personal Firewall in that the application is a lot like my childhood leaders. Norton Personal Firewall will protect you. Unfortunately, it will do so at the cost of essentially unplugging you from your network. It will lock everything out and warn you about everything that passes through it instead of using intelligent logic to determine what is risky and what is not. You'll be safe but, in my opinion, you'll be too safe.
