How to Block Programs on Firewalls Easily (Windows, MAC and Linux)

Blocking programs

Most firewall applications allow you to block any program that is not necessary for your computer. This will save some time and keep the firewall running efficiently. Blocking programs on firewalls helps to save time and keep your firewall running efficiently. settings. In this article, we will show you how to disable any program on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.

If the program is not necessary or just use more processing power than your firewall can handle it may be blocking on its own. This means that when using another application this particular blocked process will automatically stop working until you unblock them again. Some firewall applications also give an option of allowing certain processes through without any problem such as Windows Update and other services that are important for communication with Microsoft itself but useless otherwise.

If we were to run into malware or ransomware infection our first step would probably be disabling all unnecessary files by simply blocking their activity and then running virus scans one by one in safe mode where no active threats exist.

What is a malware?

Malware is a type of software that is installed on your computer without you knowing. It usually runs in the background, so it doesn’t take up any resources at all. However, malware can cause a great deal of damage to your firewall and even delete data from your hard drive if not caught quickly enough. If your firewall is blocking a program, it’s because the firewall believes this application has been compromised. This means that hackers can gain access to your system by using malware and viruses via an open port or through network traffic redirection.

Blocking programs on Windows Firewall

Blocking programs on firewall can save you some time and help your firewall run more efficiently. In this article, we will show you how to disable any program on Windows Firewall. Please follow the following steps below:

1. Go to firewall settings (Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Firewall).
2. Then click on “Allow a program or feature through Windows firewall” option under the “Network connections” section.
3. Click Advanced Settings that allows you to manage all firewall rules for your computer. In the list of firewall rules, you need to find and select the program by clicking on it once.
4. Once selected, click on right-side Actions button followed by Block Rules option. You will get a message that says the program is about to be blocked which means Windows firewall has successfully added this program to its block list.
5. After the program is blocked, you will get firewall message that says: ‘Blocks incoming connections to this computer’. To confirm if it has been successfully added to firewall block list, click on “View blocking rules” option. A new window with firewall settings should now pop-up which allows you again to select and manage all firewall settings for your computer.

That’s it! Now this particular program can no longer connect to your firewall which means that all incoming connections from this program are now being blocked on firewall level. This blocks any possible malware infection coming from the program in the future.

Blocking programs in MAC OS firewall

In this article, we will show you how to disable any program on Mac OS firewall easily using the firewall application that comes preinstalled in every MAC OS. Let’s get started!

1. First, go to firewall options in the system preferences.
2. Once there you will see a list of applications that are currently blocked under “firewall settings”.
3. Click on the “lock” button next to firewall settings and enter your password when prompted. This enables editing for this section only. You can also make firewall changes without entering the password by clicking on edit firewall settings.
4. Now you can start blocking programs and applications that are not necessary for your computer or firewall to run smoothly. To block a program, simply click on it once in the list then click “delete” under “actions” menu . You may need to enter your administrator password to block the program.
5. Once you are done blocking programs, click on firewall options and lock it again with your administrator password if prompted. Click “okay” when finished. The firewall settings will once again be locked down and secure from other users who may try to change them without authorization.

Blocking programs in Linux firewall

Most Linux distributions come with a firewall application installed by default, but it might not be configured to block all applications on your computer automatically so you need to do this manually. Some popular firewall apps are ufw (which stands for Uncomplicated Firewall) which is pre-installed in Ubuntu or firewalld which comes with CentOS/RHEL distributions out of the box.

In order to see whether a firewall is enabled go to System -> Administration -> Security level and check ‘Enable firewall’. This will bring up firewall configuration window where you can see all the applications that are blocked by default.

Ubuntu

On Ubuntu firewall you will see that by default no applications are blocked so we need to do it manually.

1. To start blocking an application just type it’s name in ‘New rule’ field under INPUT tab (for incoming connections) or OUTPUT tab (for outgoing connections)
2. Set proper action for your needs (‘Allow’ – allow access/connection; ‘Deny’ – deny access/connection). Then hit Apply button at the end of the page.
3. After applying new rules firewall will be restarted automatically, so you need to wait until it’s done.

Centos

On CentOS firewall there are no applications blocked by default, just go to Services tab and find the application you want block. Then click on ‘Disable’ button under Actions column (this action will be taken after firewall restart).

Now do these steps for any other program except SSH server which is usually not blocked in Linux distributions. If firewall was already enabled then make sure that it’s service is running with systemctl start firewalld command or ufw status verbose command.

Conclusion

Blocking programs on firewall is a must if firewall was installed on your computer to protect it from incoming attacks. This way you will keep out unnecessary programs and applications that are running in the background or even opened by other users who may use them without knowing how dangerous they can be for firewall stability.