How to Secure a Cable Internet Connection

The Internet is moving fast, and people who access it want to move fast as well. With this need for speed Internet service has grown from a dial-up dominated market to a broadband market where cable Internet is a leader in both market share and speed. Cable Internet has lead the high speed internet revolution from the start if for no other reason than they had a network capable of carrying the traffic already in place.

This newfound speed and "always on" connectivity provided by cable internet access also comes new hazards to be aware of and avoid. Always on is as much a change from dial-up as the added speed is simply because the more time connected to the Internet the more danger a user is exposed too. In the past when a user was finished accessing the Internet, they would log off and the connection would be severed. Even if the user left the computer and forgot they were connected to the Internet the connection would "time out" due to inactivity. This is not the case with cable Internet. "Always on" means just that.

Here we will look at three things cable customer can use to make their Internet usage a safe one: Anti-Virus Software, Firewalls, and Network Address Translation.

Anti-Virus Software

Anti-virus software is an application that runs on an individual computer that scans files for threats. How this scanning process works depends on the software you are using, but most can be set to check every file as it arrives on your computer, allowing possible threats to be stopped before they infect your computer.

This software can also be used to scan existing files, as well as boot disks and memory. It is s good idea to schedule your software to check your system periodically in case something got through.

The three security measures discussed here are not the only methods available to secure your cable connection, and nothing is totally secure. Hackers are finding new ways to exploit weaknesses in security everyday; therefore new measure must be used daily to defend against this. When deciding on what security measures to take, it is usually best to use more than one. A firewall and anti-virus software used together is greatly more effective than if just one or the other is alone. When it comes to security as with many things, more is better.

Firewalls

A firewall is a system that imposes access controls between two networks. The purpose of this is too keep out hackers, worms, viruses and other harmful traffic. The name is derived from a very literal process that prevents the spread of actual fires. When a fire begins to spread through a forest area, firefighters dig trenches and saturate areas with water. These areas are called firewalls.

Firewalls that protect computers work in much the same fashion. They sit between the computer and the Internet and monitor activity that crosses them. They can be configured in many different ways, offering very little to iron clad protection. The two types of firewalls readily available to home users are software firewalls and hardware firewalls.

Software firewalls run on individual computers in a network, and only protect the computer that it is installed on. An example is the firewall that comes with Windows XP. Although it is an extremely simplistic firewall, it offers a general protection with ease of use.

Hardware firewalls are devices that sit on your network between all computers and the Internet. These firewalls are very diverse, and offer a myriad of configurations. Though more complicated than traditional software firewalls, it is generally understood that hardware firewalls afford a greater level of protection.

NAT (Network Address Translation)

NAT offers an elegant solution to cable Internet’s static IP issue. Network Address Translation is a process in which IP addresses on a private network are kept hidden. Home users frequently use a method referred to as "masquerading", and it is an effective method of protecting yourself from anyone attempting to access your computer.

Masquerading allows more than one device to share an IP on a network, and has several uses. Multiple computers can share an Internet connection without purchasing multiple IP addresses from your provider, individual firewalls can be set up in series, and this also keeps the IP of your computer hidden behind the IP of another device such as a modem or router.