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Risks of allowing programs through a firewall? When you add a program to the list of allowed programs in a firewall, or when you open a firewall port, you allow a particular program to send information to or from your computer through the firewall. Allowing a program to communicate through a firewall (sometimes called unblocking) is like punching a hole in the firewall. Each time you open a port or allow a program to communicate through a firewall, your computer becomes a bit less secure. The more allowed programs or open ports your firewall has, the more opportunities there are for hackers or malicious software to use one of those openings to spread a worm, access your files, or use your computer to spread malicious software to others. It's generally safer to add a program to the list of allowed programs than to open a port. If you open a port, it stays open until you close it, whether or not a program is using it. If you add a program to the list of allowed programs, the ...

Important account security tips: - Make sure you have regular access to your recovery phone so you can easily   pass Google's security measures if you ever forget your password. - Always keep your recovery phone number current. A phone is more secure than a   recovery email or your security question because, unlike the other two, you   usually have physical possession of your phone.