Software firewall control

摘要

A software firewall that may be configured using rules specified for types of network interfaces rather than individual network interfaces. The network types may be specified with type identifiers that have a readily understandable meaning to a user, facilitating ease of configuring the firewall. The network types could include, for example, wired, wireless and remote access. A rule specified based on a network type can be implemented for network interfaces of that network type. The implementation may be performed automatically and may be updated based on network location awareness information.

主权项

1. A method of operating a computing device with at least one network interface and a firewall, the firewall implementing at least one network-type rule to determine whether network communications are passed through by the firewall, the method comprising:
accessing the network-type rule, the network-type rule identifying a type of network to which the network-type rule is specifically applicable; determining that the network-type rule is applicable to the network interface by receiving an identifier of the network interface, applying the identifier to mapping information mapping network interface identifiers to network types to obtain a network type of the network interface, and determining that the obtained network type of the network interface matches the network type of the network-type rule; and based on the determining having determined that the network-type rule is applicable to the network interface, applying the network-type rule to the network interface to regulate network communications associated with the network interface.