Firewall System Rules

 

Avast Firewall is another major component of Antivirus protection offered alongside Core Shields, and it is available for Windows workstations. Our Firewall monitors all network traffic between devices and the outside world to help protect you from unauthorized communication and intrusions.

Firewall's system rules control network traffic for the most common connection types. These take precedence over both application and advanced packet rules. The system rules have been expanded to allow the users to configure each rule separately for private and public networks, providing thus more control over the behavior of the Firewall.

We recommend you only modify these rules if absolutely necessary. In most cases, Firewall formulates optimal rules without any user input.

 

To access Firewall system rules:

1. Go to the Policies page
2. Open the desired policy
3. Select Windows Workstation, then navigate to the Active protection tab
4. Click Customize next to Firewall

5. Select the Rules tab, then System rules

At the top of the Rules tab, you can allow local configuration of all Firewall rules by disabling the Control all rules via the web console option. However, we recommend keeping this option enabled, ensuring these rules are controlled via the On-Premise Console for maximum security across your network.

Configuring System Rules

The following system rules can be configured here:

• Allow Windows File and Printer Sharing: Authorizes other devices in the network to access shared folders and printers.
• Allow remote desktop connections to this computer : Authorizes other devices in the network to remotely access and control devices when the Remote Desktop service is enabled.
• Allow incoming ping and trace requests (ICPM): Authorizes incoming Internet Control Message Protocol messages. ICMP is typically used by system tools, such as ping or tracert commands, for diagnostic or control purposes when troubleshooting connectivity issues.
• Allow outgoing ping and trace requests (ICPM): Authorizes outgoing Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) messages.
• Allow IGMP traffic: Authorizes multicast communication using the Internet Group Management Protocol, which is required by some media streaming services for more efficient use of resources during activities such as video streaming and gaming.
• Allow multicast traffic: Authorizes applications and services for media streaming when distributing content to groups of multiple recipients in a single transmission, which is necessary for activities such as video-conferencing.
• Allow DNS: Authorizes communication with Domain Name Servers which enables devices to recognize the IP addresses of the websites you visit.
• Allow DHCP: Authorizes communication using the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol to automatically provide devices with IP addresses and other related configuration information such as the subnet mask and default gateway.
• Allow VPN connections via PPTP : Authorizes Virtual Private Networks connections that use PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol)
• Allow VPN connections via L2TP-IPSec: Authorizes Virtual Private Networks connections that use L2TP-IPSec (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol over Internet Protocol Security)
• Allow stealth mode for public networks: Prevents attackers from uncovering information about devices and running services when your Firewall is in Public mode.

You can choose if a connection is allowed or blocked, or you can let Firewall decide based on packet rules. If you select the last option, ensure the Firewall Advanced Packet Rules for that connection are configured.

Resetting to Default Settings

If needed, you can revert all system rules to their default values by clicking the Reset to default settings link at the bottom of the settings.