Usability Study of Vista's Firewall Using Respondent Methods

A firewall is one of the most important security tools against network attacks. Microsoft, in its new version of the Windows, Vista, offered a new firewall with plethora of advance features that if used correctly, can protect a personal computer from most of security threats. The unfortunate truth is that many end-users of Microsoft Vista have little or no security knowledge and are easily confused by the advanced features contained within the firewall. Subsequently, it is easy to see why users are a primary contribution to the majority of computer security errors. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the usability of the Vista firewall and to relate ease of use, intuitive controls and interface to effective firewall protection.