Filtering application traffic

You can change an application’s filtering mode so that traffic associated with the application is always filtered, allowed, or blocked. You can also allow or block traffic for an application’s subprocess (or “child”). For some applications, a child process can access the Internet through its parent process.

To change the filtering mode for an application:

1.	In the Icon panel, click Firewall.

2.	Click the Applications tab.

The panel lists applications that have attempted to access the Internet. The list shows the application name, its executable name, its version number, the mode applied (allowed, filtered, or blocked), and whether its subprocesses are allowed or blocked.

3.	Right-click on an application name in the middle panel.

A pop-up menu opens, similar to the following example.

4.	To change the filtering mode for an application, select either:

•	ALLOW traffic. Allows for all incoming and outgoing Internet traffic associated with the application. This setting provides no protection.

•	FILTER traffic. Filters incoming and outgoing traffic associated with the application.

•	BLOCK traffic. Blocks all incoming and outgoing Internet traffic associated with the application. This setting locks down the application’s traffic.

5.	If desired, you can change the Allowed Parent setting to allow or block a child process from launching. If this option is selected (checked), subprocesses are allowed. If this option is deselected, subprocesses are blocked.

6.	If desired, you can also edit the list as follows:

•	To remove an application, select it from the list and click Remove Application.

•	To add a new application, select Add Application. When the Explorer window opens, locate and select the executable filename of the application and click Open. The application name appears in the list panel.

•	If you want to restore all default applications to the list, select Restore default settings. Defaults include commonly used applications such as Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, Netscape, Windows Explorer, and so on.