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Microsoft

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There are preset rules for the following Microsoft applications:

Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Word

Microsoft Access HTTP
Microsoft Excel HTTP
Microsoft Word HTTP

Protocol: TCP
Direction: Outbound
Remote Port(s): HTTP (80), 81-83, HTTPS (443), SOCKS (1080), 3128, 8080, 8088, 11523
Action: Allow It

What it's for

This rule is used for browsing web pages. HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is the only port you really need for browsing the Internet, ports 81, 82, 83 are auxiliary web browsing ports and are rarely used. HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer (SSL)) is used when browsing secure sites such as Hotmail. SOCKS is only needed by people using a SOCKS proxy server. 3128, 8080, and 8088 are common ports that proxy servers use. 11523 is used by AOL's browser.

I'm not sure what Office apps need this rule for, I didn't know you could use them to browse then Internet. If anyone knows, please let me know too!

To optimize

Remove the remote ports: 81, 82, 83 unless you know that you need them. If you don't use a SOCKS proxy server remove SOCKS. If you don't use a remote or local proxy remove 3128, 8080 and 8088. If your not using these Office apps to connect to secure sites you should remove HTTPS as well. If you don't use AOL's browser remove 11523.
Back to Microsoft

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Microsoft Access FTP
Microsoft Excel FTP
Microsoft Word FTP

Protocol: TCP
Direction: Outbound
Remote Port(s): FTP (21)
Action: Allow It

What it's for

This rule is used for establishing FTP (File Transfer Protocol) connections to FTP servers to download a file (although file transfer can be done over HTTP using the browser's HTTP rule).

FTP uses two channels to achieve the transfer, there is the control connection (this rule) which is used to send the necessary commands to achieve the transfer and a data channel (see FTP DATA) which is used to actually send the files with. The control connection is established from the client (which would be you) when the client logs into an ftp server, whereas the data channel is usually established by the server to the client after the client connects to the server.

I'm not sure what Office apps need this rule for, I didn't know you could use them to FTP files. If anyone knows, please let me know too!

To optimize

Add an Event for 'Remote Host' and specify the 'Remote Host' as the FTP server you use.
More about FTP
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Microsoft Access FTP DATA
Microsoft Excel FTP DATA
Microsoft Word FTP DATA

Protocol: TCP
Direction: Inbound
Remote Port(s): FTP DATA (20)
Action: Allow It

What it's for

This rule is used for the actual transfer of files from an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server (although file transfer can be done over HTTP using the browser's HTTP rule).

FTP uses two channels to achieve the transfer, there is the control connection (see FTP) which is used to send the necessary commands to achieve the transfer and a data channel (this rule) which is used to actually send the files with. The control connection is established from the client (which would be you) when the client logs into an ftp server, whereas the data channel is usually established by the server to the client after the client connects to the server.

I'm not sure what Office apps need this rule for, I didn't know you could use them to FTP files. If anyone knows, please let me know too!

To optimize

Add an Event for 'Remote Host' and specify the 'Remote Host' as the FTP server you use.
More about FTP DATA
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Microsoft Access E-mail
Microsoft Excel E-mail
Microsoft Word E-mail

Protocol: TCP
Direction: Outbound
Remote Port(s): SMTP (25), POP3 (110)
Action: Allow It

What it's for

This rule is used whenever you send or receive an e-mail from within Access, Excell, and Word. It uses POP3 (Version 3 of the Post Office Protocol) to collect mail from your e-mail providers POP server and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) to send the mail to your e-mail providers SMTP server which in turn forwards your mail to it's destinations POP server so that the recipient can then receive the mail.

To optimize

If your POP server and SMTP server are the same IP address add an Event for 'Remote Host' and specify the 'Remote Host' as your e-mail providers server IP or host name (if both POP and SMTP servers share a generic host name such as mail.my_provider.com). You can either e-mail your provider for there SMTP and POP server details or send an e-mail and check either your Allowed log or the DNS Cache log both of which should give you the IP number or host name of your providers POP and SMTP servers.
More about SMTP, POP3
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Microsoft Access LDAP
Microsoft Excel LDAP
Microsoft Word LDAP

Protocol: TCP
Direction: Outbound
Remote Port(s): LDAP (389)
Action: Allow It

What it's for

This rule is used for searching anonymous LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) servers for e-mail addresses.

I'm not sure what Office apps need this rule for. If anyone knows, please let me know too!

To optimize

Add an Event for 'Remote Host' specify 'Remote Host' as teh LDAP server you use.
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Microsoft Excel MYSQL

Protocol: TCP
Direction: Outbound
Remote Port(s): 1433, 1434
Action: Allow It

What it's for

I assume this must be to access a local SQL server. I'm not sure what Excel needs this rule for. If anyone knows, please let me know too!
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This is an unofficial guide, the information expressed here may differ from Agnitum's. There is a support forum (no longer run by Agnitum, but by users) if you need more help this is a good place to start. Where information here conflicts with what Agnitum have told you always go with the information given to you by Agnitum.

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