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McAfee Total Protection Service Product Guide
Use learn mode to discover Internet applications
Report mode can be used as a “learn mode” to help you determine which applications to
allow. In Report mode, firewall protection tracks but does not block unrecognized Internet
applications. You can review detected applications in the Unrecognized Programs report and
approve those that are appropriate for your policy. When you no longer see applications you
want to allow in the report, change the policy setting to Prompt or Protect mode.
The role of IP addresses
An IP address is used to identify any device that originates or receives a request or a message
over networks and the Internet (which comprises a very large group of networks). Each IP
address uses a unique set of hexadecimal characters to identify a network, a subnetwork (if
applicable), and a device within the network.
An IP address enables:
• The request or message to be delivered to the correct destination.
• The receiving device to know where the request or message originated and where to send
a response if one is required.
Total Protection Service allows you to configure a custom connection to accept only
communications that originate from designated IP addresses. You can specify IP addresses
that conform to either of these standards:
• IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) — The most common Internet addressing scheme.
Supports 32-bit IP addresses consisting of four groups of four numbers between 0 and 255.
• IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) — Supports 128-bit IP addresses consisting of eight
groups of four hexadecimal characters.
The role of system service ports
System services communicate through ports, which are logical network connections. Common
Windows system services are typically associated with particular service ports, and your
computer’s operating system or other system applications might attempt to open them.
Because these ports represent a potential source of intrusions into a client computer, you must
open them before the computer can communicate through them.
Certain applications, including web servers and file-sharing server programs, must accept
unsolicited connections from other computers through designated system service ports. When
configuring a custom connection, you can:
• Allow applications to act as servers on the local network or the Internet.
• Add or edit a port for a system service.
• Disable or remove a port for a system service.
NOTE:
Select a port for system services only if you are certain it must be open. You will rarely
need to open a port. We recommend that you disable unused system services.
Using Firewall Protection
The role of IP addresses
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