Dear readers, I appear to have set a Paranoid Penguin record—six months spent on one article series. (It has consisted of five installments, with a one-month break between the second and third pieces.

After using several security tools on Windows, I'm convinced the built-in firewall is solid. Despite this, it doesn't feel like something made for me. Even though it runs quietly, is rarely in your ...

Last month, I kicked off a series of articles on transparent firewalls, beginning with a brief essay on why firewalls are still relevant in an age of Web applications and tunneled traffic. I also ...