Questions tagged [firewall]

A firewall is a software program or piece of hardware that helps screen out hackers, viruses, and worms that try to reach your computer over the Internet. Usage of this tag may be aligned to users concerned with suspected malware creeping into their devices, setting a filter to allow certain applications to access internet and general monitoring of incoming/outgoing network connections

What is a Firewall and How Does It work?

A firewall is a system that provides network security by filtering incoming and outgoing network traffic based on a set of user-defined rules.

In general, the purpose of a firewall is to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of unwanted network communications while allowing all legitimate communication to flow freely.

Now Internet access of all apps can be adjusted. The apps won’t be able to go online without you knowing and send any data.

In addition, by using firewall, you can allow some apps to go to the network only via mobile Internet (some firewall apps even distinguish roaming), while others (for example, ones that require a lot of traffic) – only through WiFi.

Wile root-apps can do that directly at system level (usually via iptables), non-root solutions facilitate Android's VPN feature – which usually means you cannot use other VPN apps simultaneously as Android only allows a single VPN to be active.

Examples of firewall applications for Android include:

References:

  1. What is a Firewall and How Does It Work?
  2. What is a firewall?
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What methods can I use to block adult content?

I'm looking for something along the lines of K-9 for my phone. Does such a thing exist? My goal: to have all adult content blocked. I would like to know if this is possible and if it is, how to do it.
John
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Block Connection to Specific BSSID's?

I am setting up my friend's network for his kids. I have Tomato firmware running on their Linksys with OpenDNS filtering as well as timed Access Restrictions (ie, no more internet access after 11:30pm). That's all fine and dandy as long as my…
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DroidWall (firewall app) alternative for non-rooted phones

Are there any applications that can restrict specific applications from accessing data/internet for non-rooted ICS phones? DroidWall - Android Firewall provides this functionality but it requires Root access.
HarsH
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How to use hosts.allow or hosts.deny in Android

Is there a way to use the files hosts.allow and hosts.deny in Android? I've searched over the internet but found nothing. I have to control access of both wifi and mobile networks. And limit the access to a certain domain. Just like a firewall do.…
Luander
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How to share mobile internet with a friend and keep noroot firewall running?

Friend's smartphone can only access internet if I stop "noroot firewall" app, while he is connected thru wifi hotspot here. While it is running, no log is shown to friend's blocked accesses. What I need to configure to let it work? If not possible,…
VeganEye
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How do I check tcp packets when they were blocked by droidwall?

I'm using cyanogenmod's rom with droidwall activated with whitelist mode, and nothing checked. I've seen some strange ips being called, and droidwall blocking them. I wan to analyse these packets. Which is the best way? PS: I dont have Android…
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How do you trace incoming/outgoing HTTP connections on a rooted Android?

I would like to get a trace of any incoming & outgoing requests over HTTP from my android phone over a period of time (like you can do with Fiddler on a PC) - is there tool apart from WhisperCore that can do something like this? The reason i don't…
varunsrin
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Which apps/services needs to be whitelisted when using AFWall+ firewall?

I installed this root firewall app on my android but now some services are not working properly. For example, I liberated full access to Google play store on it and also Google play services but when I try to install an App in Play Store, it never…
Fnr
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Any No Root Firewalls, from Major Security Vendors?

This question is "only" concerning no root firewalls, which are currently available from Major Security Vendors (such as Symantec, Comodo, Avast, McAfee, etc...) AND which can filter based on DNS/host name, ip subnet and ip addresses. Also, the…
Todd Booth
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Fake missing network connection for single app

I have an app that I don't want to have network access. It does work when I put the phone in plane mode, but simply blocking it with AFWall causes it to hang, probably waiting for network replies. It seems to check, if the device has an internet…
crater2150
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