One more question: In House Networking / File sharing

[jenniferatemple]

If I allow computers on the "Home Network" to access files, music, videos, etc, does that leave my system vulnerable to the outside world?

[John L. Galt]

In a sense, yes.  If any one of your computers gets infected, depending upon the malware infection type, it's method of reproduction and propagation, and other factors, it could spread to other computers.

 

That is what AV and MBAM and other security software are for, though.

[David H. Lipman]

If you do file and print sharing then yes.  However the security risks can be  greatly mitigated.  The first level is is by using a  NAT Router or a NAT Router with a full Firewall implementation.  I always suggest closing, blocking, TCP and UDP ports 135~139 and 445 on the Router.  The second level concerns WiFi.  That is if your SOHO NAT Router has WiFi, the WiFi must be locked-down as that would pose the most risk to the network.