The Smart Firewall processes General rules before it processes Program rules. Within the list of General rules, rules are processed in order of appearance, from top to bottom. Program Control entries are not processed in order. The rules within each Program Control entry, however, are processed in order of appearance, from top to bottom.

For example, you have a Program rule that blocks the use of Symantec pcAnywhere with any other computer. You add another rule that allows the use of Symantec pcAnywhere with a specific computer. You then move the new rule before the original rule in the program rule list. Norton Internet Security processes the new rule first and lets you use Symantec pcAnywhere with that specific computer. It then processes the original rule and prevents its use with any other computer.


Norton Internet Security includes a number of predefined general firewall rules. These rules provide network functionality and protection from known Internet risks. Examples of default firewall rules include the following:

The General Rules window displays a list of predefined general rules. These rules appear in the order of their priority levels. Rules that appear higher in the list override the rules that appear lower in the list.

You can add a new General rule in this window. You can also do the following activities: