Windows Firewall

Windows Defender Firewall is a component of Microsoft Windows, first included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It is designed to protect devices from hackers.

Prior to the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 in 2004, it was known as Internet Connection Firewall. As of Windows 10 version 1709 in September 2017, it was renamed to Windows Defender Firewall.

Windows Neptune
In the unreleased Windows Neptune, the firewall was introduced. It is similar to the one found in Windows XP.

Windows XP
Windows Firewall was first introduce as part of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Every type of network connection, whether it is wired, wireless, VPN, or even FireWire, has the firewall enabled by default, with some built-in exceptions to allow connections from machines on the local network. It also fixed a problem whereby the firewall policies would not be enabled on a network connection until several seconds after the connection itself was created, thereby creating a window of vulnerability. A number of additions were made to Group Policy, so that Windows system administrators could configure the Windows Firewall product on a company-wide level. XP's Windows Firewall cannot block outbound connections; it is only capable of blocking inbound ones.

Windows Firewall added IPv6, which was not supported by its predecessor, Internet Connection Firewall.

Windows Vista
Windows Vista improved the firewall to address a number of concerns around the flexibility of Windows Firewall in a corporate environment.