Best Firewall?

  • Thread starter Eric.
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Eric.

Eric.

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Simple thread guys, what FREE firewall service would you recommend? I've been arming this system to the teeth today with some antivirus/spyware programs and now I need a firewall. I know of Zonealarm and a friend of mine uses Kerio, is there anything better?
 
The best thing you can really use is hardware firewall. The only way to get past one of those is to know the administrator username and password.

For software, I couldn't really tell you. I don't think AVG provides a firewall.
 
MachOne
:lol:!!!!!

I hope you're joking.
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Other than the fact that does not support IPv6 (who uses IPv6 anyways, all of the public internet is on v4) I don't see whats wrong with it...

If it's good enough for big companies that run Server 2003, it's good enough for me!
 
skip0110
Other than the fact that does not support IPv6 (who uses IPv6 anyways, all of the public internet is on v4) I don't see whats wrong with it...

If it's good enough for big companies that run Server 2003, it's good enough for me!
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Any company who runs a Microsoft OS on a server (other than MS) either has very little clue of what they're doing or is being sponsored out their ears. That should tell you all you need to know about Microsoft's firewall.

I use Sygate Personal Firewall - free and hasn't given me any problems.
 
Microsoft's firewall is about as protective as a wet cardboard box, where ZoneAlarm or the like is more like a reinforced bomb shelter.
 
Hardware firewalls, when properly set up, are almost impossible to get past. But then again, loads of people don't reset the default passwords and usernames on them, and that's what lets intruders in.
 
skip0110
XP's integrated firewall is as good as any software firewall.
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IIRC, XP's firewall only detects incoming traffic, where as ZoneAlarm detects incoming and outgoing traffic. So, if you got a virus that's trying to connect to an outside source, say, a website, then the XP firewall won't detect it.

MachOne
Microsoft's firewall is about as protective as a wet cardboard box, where ZoneAlarm or the like is more like a reinforced bomb shelter.
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Agreed.
 
Duċk;2428879
IIRC, XP's firewall only detects incoming traffic, where as ZoneAlarm detects incoming and outgoing traffic. So, if you got a virus that's trying to connect to an outside source, say, a website, then the XP firewall won't detect it.
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You're right. Do I want to be warned for every dll that needs to call out? Personally, I don't care.

Fine, I guess if you view what I would consider erroneous warnings and extra security, other firewalls are better. I don't want to have to tick okay on dialog boxes...I just want the software to do it's job. Which XP's does just fine.
 
skip0110
You're right. Do I want to be warned for every dll that needs to call out? Personally, I don't care.
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What do you want the firewall FOR if you don't care about hackers getting things like credit card numbers, bank account info, or using your computer for denial of service attacks?

You should want to keep a close eye on what's trying to dial out from your computer.
 
danoff
What do you want the firewall FOR if you don't care about hackers getting things like credit card numbers, bank account info, or using your computer for denial of service attacks?

You should want to keep a close eye on what's trying to dial out from your computer.
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XP Firewall blocks DCOM and RPC outbound, which should take care of loggers and the like.

All the "heavy" firewall solutions give you the illusion of security by pummeling you with dialog boxes...thereby putting the decision to compromise your computer in your hands. RPC calls, for example, go through a Microsoft signed dll (rpct4.dll)...which in all likeliness you would allow through the firewall and be none the wiser.

Security might be a little better, but it's not worth the bother.
 
For the past year or so I've been running NOD32 antivirus in combination with the XP firewall and I've had no problems.

All that Spybot and AdAware pickup when I run them are tracking cookies.

But maybe using Firefox over IE plays a big part in it. A couple of years ago I had Norton antivirus and firewall and I was using IE as my browser and all sorts of spyware and adware **** would get onto my PC. That and Norton doesn't like it when you try to get rid of it, it really seems to get it's claws into your PC and refuses to let go.


KM.
 

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