Windows Firewall stands between you and greasy delight

BORK!BORK!BORK! Forget flame-grilled, it's the heat from the Windows Firewall you need to worry about in today's borked burger file. Spotted by Register reader Chloe Cresswell in Sheffield's Centertainment, a fast food establishment known for its Whoppers is having a whopper of a problem with its firewall. Sorry, we'll get our coats. The problem has appeared on the progress screen, which charts an order's progress from inception to greasy nirvana. Something is trying to escape the kitchen, but luckily, Windows Defender Firewall is there to save the day. Sadly, there's no way for the waiting customers to clear the message, but it's unlikely to interfere too much with the fryers or griddles. Instead, it's just something new on the screen (and arguably better than the maddening sight of a telephone order leapfrogging your place in the line). The Windows Defender Firewall is decades old, and first put in an appearance with Windows XP. It was later elevated in prominence and activated by default with service pack 2 and Microsoft's realization that there were naughty people on the Internet who were all too happy to take advantage of vulnerabilities in the company's software. Indeed, Patch Tuesday became a thing shortly before Windows XP Service Pack 2, meaning there is an entire generation of IT professionals who are unlikely to remember a time when an operating system patch was a novelty rather than an increasingly relentless necessity. All of these thoughts might have gone through our reader's mind as the Windows pop-up confirmed that somehow, somewhere, a bit of software at the restaurant was trying to go places it wasn't supposed to and had been barred by Windows Defender Firewall. Alternatively, there could have been a fleeting concern that the pop-up might interfere with the delivery of greasy packages into eager customers' hands. The appearance of the Firewall warning indicates that something is not configured correctly, but it also represents a missed opportunity. Considering the establishment's logo and font have recently drawn the attention of many internet users, perhaps a dialog update might be in order? Yes, it's definitely hungry for an update. (R)