Worth a Look: A Firewall for Road Warriors

Working from home, you can set up your computer so that it is protected by a layer of defenses. For example, I have a firewall on my wireless router as well as a firewall running on the computer itself. But when the average user travels, there are typically fewer layers available to protect the portable computer from the inherent hazards of the Internet.

Now there is a way to make mobile computing safer. Kensington has released its Personal Firewall for Notebooks, a handy device that runs on a small USB token. The firewall’s creators have taken pains to make it easy to install and use so any traveler can protect his or her computer while on the road. That sets it apart from other firewalls I’ve tested that require users to constantly make decisions about what traffic to allow or block and assume an understanding of every application that tries to access the Internet.

The Kensington device is plug and play, meaning that you simply plug the token into any available USB slot and it installs its software automatically, a process that took less than a minute to complete. I rebooted the computer and the firewall was already up and running.

The main menu, activated by clicking on the icon in the task bar, has settings preconfigured for both Internet and network security levels that can be changed by sliding a bar toward greater or lesser security.

Specific IP addresses that are allowed or not allowed to access your computer can be added here, and a list of applications appears that have attempted to access the Internet. These can be blocked, allowed, or made to query you each time they attempt access. I added one program that was initially blocked to the “allowed” list, the Internet browser Firefox, by right-clicking on the menu and browsing for the application.

Pros. Extremely easy to install and use, and it didn’t overwhelm me with constant pop-ups, queries, or blocked attempts (though the device can be configured to give information on these).

Cons. Nothing significant, except that it needs to be plugged into a USB slot each time you use the computer, which can be a pain if you need to use multiple USB devices.

Where to get one. It’s available via Kensington’s Web site for $49.99.