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Personal Firewalls

WARNING: A firewall can cause your computer to malfunction if it is not installed, configured and maintained properly, and the source of these malfunctions is usually not obvious. Please see the McAfee Desktop Firewall page for more information about this before installing a firewall.

RIT Faculty and Staff

The McAfee Desktop Firewall is available for use on all RIT owned Windows computers at no additional charge to other departments of the Institute. When used in conjunction with e-Policy Orchestrator, the McAfee Desktop Firewall requires no configuration or maintenance on your part. To install the McAfee Desktop Firewall, you must install the McAfee e-Policy Orchestrator agent first. The e-Policy Orchestrator will subsequently install and maintain the firewall via the agent.

Installing the McAfee Desktop Firewall with ePO

STEP 1: Install the ePO agent Many computers on campus already have the ePO agent installed. If you have the ePO agent icon in your system tray on the bottom right hand corner of your Windows screen, proceed to step 2. If you do not have the ePO agent, you can request it from the ITS HelpDesk. Click here to open an online HelpDesk request, and be sure to include your machine name, your name, and your department name in the request.

STEP 2: Request the McAfee Desktop Firewall Once the ePO agent is installed on your computer, you can request that the McAfee Desktop Firewall be remotely installed on your computer. To do this, Click here to open an online HelpDesk request, tell us your computer's name, and ask to have the McAfee Desktop Firewall "pushed out" to it.

McAfee Desktop Firewall - standalone version

The standalone (unmanaged) version of McAfee Desktop Firewall has been withdrawn by McAfee, and is no longer available.

Personally Owned (Home) and all Student Computers

The McAfee Desktop Firewall is not licensed for use on personally owned or home computers. For these computers, including student computers, we recommend using Zone Alarm. Zone Alarm provides a free firewall for personally owned systems. Zone Alarm can be downloaded at the Zone Labs Web Site.