Learn more about Smart Firewall

Smart Firewall creates Program rules each time a program or process connects to the network for the first time. These rules determine how Smart Firewall behaves toward each program or process when connecting to the Internet or another network. Advanced users can modify the firewall settings for each individual program to determine how strictly Smart Firewall monitors any incoming or outgoing communication.

You can view the Program Rules in the Program Control tab in the Smart Firewall window.

You can:

• Rename the program description.

• Modify the rules for a program.

• Add a rule for a program.

• Modify the access settings of a program rule.

• Modify the priority of rules for a program by changing the sequence of rules in the list.

• Remove a program rule.

• View the trust level of a program.

Smart Firewall automatically configures firewall rules for programs the first time they access the network. This method is the easiest way to create firewall rules. You can then use the Firewall settings to manage the rules configured for each program that can access the Internet. In some cases, you can also change the access settings from firewall alerts. Your Norton product notifies you with a firewall alert when a program attempts to access the Internet. You can allow or block Internet access for that program from the alert.

For more information about the Program rules parameters and to learn how to configure new Program rules, refer to the Program Control section in Configure Smart Firewall settings.

Traffic rules control how the Smart Firewall handles communications between your PC and the networks to which it is connected. Unlike Program rules that are program-specific, Traffic rules apply to all programs on your PC. These rules control whether network traffic is allowed or blocked according to the information in network packets.

Default Traffic rules provide extra security when using a Public (Untrusted) network. You can view the list of predefined traffic rules in the Traffic Rules tab. These default Traffic rules are read-only and are locked. You cannot modify these rules.

The rules appear in the order of their priority levels. Rules that appear on top of the list override the rules that appear lower in the list.

You can:

• Add a new Traffic rule

• Modify a Traffic rule that does not function the way you want

• Disable a Traffic rule

• Change the priority of a Traffic rule

For more information about the Traffic rules parameters and to learn how to manage Traffic rules, refer to the Traffic Rules section in Configure Smart Firewall settings.