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A Firewall is a barrier that is designed to prevent unauthorized access to a computer as well as unauthorized outflow of data from a computer. Firewalls protect your computer or network from the activities of hackers and malicious software or websites that may try to infiltrate or damage your computer. A firewall could be a piece of equipment ( Hardware firewall ) or a program that is installed on a computer ( Software firewall ). These two types of firewalls have advantages to their use but they each also have disadvantages. These pros and cons are discussed below. Hardware Firewalls These are known as  Network  firewalls because they are used to protect several connected computers on a network. Advantages of Hardware Firewalls -  Single Central Solution, Easier to Maintain and Ideal for Large Organizations:  A hardware firewall allows a large organization to have a central solution for its firewall needs. This would be better than having to install and ...

Methods of encrypting messages include the: - Symmetric Key Encryption and - Asymmetric or Public Key Encryption methods. While each system has its proponents and opponents, both methods have pros and cons which are outlined below: Symmetric Key Encryption Symmetric key encryption is also known as shared-key, single-key, secret-key, and private-key or one-key encryption. In this type of message encryption, both sender and receiver share the same key which is used to both encrypt and decrypt messages. Sender and receiver only have to specify the shared key in the beginning and then they can begin to encrypt and decrypt messages between them using that key. Examples include AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and TripleDES (Data Encryption Standard). Advantages -  Simple:  This type of encryption is easy to carry out. All users have to do is specify and share the secret key and then begin to encrypt and decrypt messages. -  Encrypt and decrypt your own fi...

Bitcoin logo Bitcoin has been in the news a lot recently for good and bad reasons. There have been stories like the one of the man who bought  $27 worth of Bitcoin in 2009 which are now worth almost $900,000 . How about the  shutdown of the infamous Silk Road website  which was an online black market where people sold and bought illegal drugs and weapons and even paid to have people killed using Bitcoins as currency? Even most recently, a company started installing  physical ATMs for Bitcoin transactions . Having had my interest in Bitcoin piqued high enough, I decided I wanted to own Bitcoins. However, I had to know what advantages and disadvantages using Bitcoin presented. I carried out a bit of research and this is what I found. What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin, according to Bitcoin.org is a new kind of money which uses peer-to-peer technology to conduct transactions. It is an open source, decentralized payment system which means that it has no central regulati...

A domain name is the name part of the address of a website on the internet. For example, the domain name in "www.google.com" is "Google". It the part of a web address that is unique for every website. Using a domain name generally requires that you register it especially if your website is for business purposes. This means that you pay a recurring - usually annual - cost to own the rights to the domain name. However, it is possible to have a website with a name that you do not pay for. Such a domain name is a called a sub-domain because it is created under a main domain name. Despite the fact that a sub-domain is free, there are many disadvantages to using them. It is better to register your own domain name. There are plenty of good reasons why you should register your domain name. They include: -  Identity and Branding : A domain name is basically what identifies your website or business on the internet. If you offer a particular product or service and you ...