Standards in desktop firewall policies

The idea of a common desktop firewall policy in any size organization is a very good thing. It makes responses to external or internal situations such as virus outbreaks or network-oriented propagation of viruses more predictable. In addition to providing a level of protection against port scanning, attacks or software vulnerabilities, it can provide the organizations local security team a baseline or starting point in dealing with such events.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the need for a desktop firewall policy within an organization, determine how it should be formed, and provide an example of one along with the security benefits it provides an organization.