INVITATION TO CYBERSECURITY 246 of power in cybersecurity or whether it will favor both sides such that the status quo will be maintained. 9.2.3.4 Use a System Firewall System firewalls are similar to antivirus programs, but they focus solely on inbound and outbound network connections and traffic. Windows comes with Microsoft Defender Firewall preconfigured. It can help protect systems and alert users to suspicious behavior and should not be turned off unless a user understands the risk. When alerts pop-up, users should try to understand what is being communicated and should consider searching online for more context before allowing exceptions. Alerts that pop-up not in response to a specific user action are indicators of system compromise. Linux and macOS operating systems come with a system firewall but they are not configured and activated by default. Smartphones do not need antivirus software or a firewall because they are much more constrained than personal computers. Smartphone owners do not have true administrative or root access on their phones—this helps to make them more secure by default. The security of smartphones mostly boils down to the apps that users deliberately install. It is a risk to install apps acquired from outside of the approved stores because they have not been vetted. They are more likely to be malicious. Even apps from the approved stores could be problematic—users should scrutinize the permissions that apps require during the installation process. The default should be to deny apps permissions unless they are absolutely necessary. 9.2.4 Secure Networks Cyberspace is synonymous with computer networks and the Internet. Therefore, network security is a primary concern of cybersecurity. This section briefly covers some basic network security measures. 9.2.4.1 Use a Network Firewall Network firewalls perform the same function as system firewalls except that they can protect multiple computers because they act as a chokepoint for all traffic entering and leaving the network. Most home networks use a router provided by their Internet service provider (ISP). These routers likely have firewall features that the homeowner can configure. Wireless network routers that users purchase and add to their home networks typically also have a built-in firewall. Firewalls can be configured with blacklists or whitelists on a per device basis (see Section 8.2.4). Network firewalls, like system firewalls, can prevent unsolicited connections from coming into the network and malicious connections from being made to outside servers. Firewalls can also log network activity so it can be determined who did what when on the network. Firewalls also include features to limit the amount of time a device can be online and the amount of data that a device can use, and they can set time windows for
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