Take into account a firewall is not only there just to deal with inbound and outbound connections. The more advanced the firewall you choose is,
the more attacks it may cover or protect you against.
For example:
- Botnet protection
- IDS protection
- Advanced rules
- Gateway defence
- NAT protection
In case something compromises your security, the firewall can be there blocking the access of the threat to the internet.
There's a lot you can achieve with
Windows Firewall if you know how to use it and configure it.
If you don't, there are a lot of good options, many of them paid. If I were you, I would go with an antivirus suite that complements the protection with a solid firewall (which is probably based on WF).
And of course, aforementioned, a trusted VPN.
Thanks guys. So what happens when you use a dedicated app on an android device, for instance, your bank's app. It should be protected by VPN, or such an app doesn't need VPN, because it uses cell connection? I don't know how these things work...
All networks can be compromised. As our pal
@In2an3_PpG mentioned, using a public network maximizes the potential risk of being a target. Nevertheless, a cellphone network can still be targeted, here's when a VPN would still protect and encrypt all your information. Still, the chances that your phone is a target when you're at home, are minimum, of course depending on where you live and who you are. I, personally, do not use a VPN when home banking on my own, private, non-shared laptop. If I had to do it on another network, despite it's private, or another one's device, I would certainly use a VPN and a virtual screen keyboard. I would still avoid having to connect to any of my accounts if it isn't strictly necessary.
