Wich Software Firewall do you like best? This Thread will replace the current one located in the Networks, Internet and Security forum.

Thanks DigeratiPrime for putting up the list.

If you choose the option 'Other - ?', please specify wich one do you use.

Now, vote people!!

Winpooch. Its a program that monitors what programs are trying to do. It can be setup to block programs from connecting to the internet, making changes in system folders, etc. Out of the box its a bad 'firewall' because it will let everything connect to the internet. By changing the rule to 'block everything' and then adding exceptions, you can create a lean and mean firewall.

I've posted a guide to configuring Winpooch as a firewall here.

The primary drawback with it, is it doesnt have an option to run as a service, though i hear that's planned.

I do reccomend ZoneAlarm (particularly Security Suite) over the other commercial firewalls though.

Outpost

look'n'stop. (EDIT: was using kerio v2.15 for a long time.)
i can say that lns is really awesome fw. there is a certain guru-guy named phantom who made very tihgt rules for lns. all i can say it's almost unbreakable. and it's minimalistic in terms of system resources - aroung 3mb of sys memory at peak times.
i've been running a special test on my pc for about a month now with look'n'stop. i'm trying to exclude antivirus programs and antispyware progs from my system. so, it's a month since i havent been using any antivirus or antispyware (i hate the fact they hog the syszem). the system is setup as follows:
-installed look'n'stop (with phantom's ruleset)
-using restricted user account
-installed DropMyRights (awesome)
-installed MakeMeAdmin (same as above)
-using mozilla ff (with no script extension)
NO av, NO antispyware
the results, so far, are really amazing. not a single virus or spyware on my pc for the time being. of course to examine the pc i installed lawasoft ad-aware and upodated the definitions, then installed ms antispyware, and did a full scan on the system. then for av check i installed clamwin (latest definitions), which according to the tests, has one of the best scan engines. also did a full scan with it, and again no virus.
this may be a little bit off toppic, but i presume it will be interesting for some of us who like to 'experiment' a little.

I just noticed you said Kerio, still, there is not vote on the Poll for that particular Firewall.

yes, i can see that i wrote "been using kerio" instead of "was using". i do not use kerio any more. i use lns instead

Roger that.

bitdefender 9 pro plus .

Norton because it hardly ever asks me to do anything.

Actually, I voted for Norton because I knew no-one else would

Zone Alarm.

Zone Alarm *off to update the security guide *

http://ipcop.org/

Been trying out Look n'stop lite. Seems like a good firewall.

ANyone know how to configure it?

Windows default.

No issues, no compatibility problems, no hassles, works with everything, etc., etc., etc. Plus it's free.

I use monowall for my direct connection to the internet, and through that I use a small Fedora Core 5 iptable configuration, works great

XP fw, hardware router...and common sense

If you have to ask that question, I don't think it's a good firewall.

To me, a good firewall is one that when something comes up that requires your help:

a ) Tells you about the event - detailed information including application name, port number, destination IP, etc etc etc
b ) Gives you a list of options as to what to do
c ) Blocks the application until you've given the 'OK'

I used to be a big fan of Sygate, but I've been trying Outpost for a while and it seems to be doing the job. The built in DNS Cache and ad-blocker are pretty nice features as well. I had it on "Rules Wizard" for about a week when I first started it, and then once I had configured most of the rules, switched to Block Most. This is mainly just because I didn't want to be bothered any further, and because the tray icon is prettier that way...

The only thing I wish Outpost had was a button for "add rule". You click, select the application, and then configure the rule. That instead of going in, finding the application settings page, and then editing the rules...

Just a note - the interface of Outpost isn't for everyone. It's deinfately something that takes some getting used to, and most people just want an "OK" or "not OK" when they open the window.

For some reason Zone Alarm creates problems over here.So I use Kaspersky (Kaspersky Internet Security)

I found a new web site that may be of interest:
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/

Click on Tests on the left. I am testing out the Jetico firewall (it is freeware). See also:
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/reward_stats.htm

-John

Almost using no firewalls

You'd be surprised which programs and games try to send outgoing and and whereto. I've had image editors try to send to Microsoft, and didn't realize until my software firewall told me! If you have a router that monitors incoming and outgoing, that's fine, but I've heard that it slows down your connection overall due to the excessive packet monitoring done through the router. Makes sense.

Sure, but the same thing is happening on your PC.

I just use the MS firewall - and focus on not running malware in the first place.

The same thing is not happening on my PC.

Well put!

You only need a heavy duty, two way, firewall if you run a "Dirty" machine.

Keep the Malware off of your computer and the Windows Firewall will do you very nicely, thank you.

That's all I use and all my logical ports are in full "Stealth" mode. My Anti Virus, Anti-Trojan and Anti-Spyware software does the rest.

That's all ya need!


Andromeda43

bitdefender 9 internet security suite

Pick up a good NAT Router on eBay for less than $15 delivered to your door. Done and done.

My in-laws gave me the money and I picked them up a D-Link DI-604 from our tech shop. Very wise decision.

NAT Routers only help when you're connected at home. I'd rather have a two way firewall for when I'm at university and connected to a rather unsecure network. You'd be amazed at how much random traffic there is here. I'm guessing that most of it is people on BitTorrent to be honest...

I know it's only one way protection, but I use XP's firewall. It seems to work pretty good and my security scans never pick up anything.

I keep it updated, and it's not a resource hog in the least.

Sygate here, but the gutter is symantec have bought them out

Outpost Pro is the best in my opinion

It even blocks advertising in many sites :yes

I like outpost but it uses much ram. I have read in here it can be configured to use less, I cant seem to do it.
Does anyone here know how?

Here its using 10mb

Make it run in background

How much RAM is it using? It's sitting at 20MB for me right now (out of 1GB). I've got it running in normal mode, with only the Attack Detection and DNS Cache plugins working.

19.5 MB of memory here.

PC-Cillin has always been the best

Yeah, that's probably why it's not listed in the poll... Just because you like it doesn't mean it is the best. You need to word things properly.

ZoneAlarm Pro edition, Outpost caused problems on various PC's I have owned.

I have to say I tried Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 and its got a very configurable firewall ('Anti-Hacker') and its a very lean program (~10mb).
I have only played with it for about 10 minutes, but i will give it a good run later

*waits for Jeremy to slap me*

ipcop and my adsl modem / router unit
lol :/
im happy to not be the only one using ipcop linux firewall here

I use ipcop as well, i used zone alarm free for awhile but when it was running on a particular computer it wouldnt shut down and windows crashed when i installed zonealarm 6 cant say much about zone alarm now because i dont use it.

only firewall i'll ever use is my router.

works great and doesn't annoy me.

Glad this topic was started. I started getting tired of Kerio (now Sunbelt Kerio, as it was acquired recently), though i still think it's a fine firewall.

I just started evaluating a new s/w firewall called Filseclab Personal Firewall Professional Edition. It's an open source project, though the source is not freely available ($480 US). The firewall application is free however. Technically, i would have to consider it 'nagware' as it displays links to their other products in the 'status' window of the firewall UI, however it's not really annoying and that's coming from someone who detests 'nagware'. The UI is a bit rough around the edges perhaps, but nothing to really complain about. For the most part, i think it leaves Kerio in the dust. The logging, which was never a strong point with Kerio, is much better in Filseclab. From their website (their english is not very good):

# It can block the most attacks from worm viruses and trojans.
# It can block some main Adware and Spyware, the definition supports live update and you may also define it yourself.
# Double filter system provides double-layer protection.
# Digital signature verification can automatically trust the well-known program.
# Built-in 7 big modes can apply for all kinds of requirements.
# Advanced realtime monitor lets the network activities be clear.
# Interactive rules creator is very easy to create the rules.
# Password protection can protect the rules and configurations.
# It is very easy to backup and restore the rules.
# It can control the websites easily.
# It supports two logfile types, ascii and binary.
# It also supports live update for rule-definition, traffic graph, privacy protection, Windows Security Center, balloon message alert and more unique features.

UPDATE:

Filseclab gets it's advertising from a static HTML document in its program directory, '/online/default.htm'. I simply edited it by replacing the contents with the following which makes it completely invisible:

LOL. I haven't tried Kaspersky's product yet, but I really like Outpost. I know you are/were using WinPooch, but I thought it was a retarded program to be honest. Anyway, *poke*.

I'm still using Sygate. I just haven't come across anything free that works as well. It is simple and effective.

I've tried ZoneAlarm and am not impressed. I also worked on a machine with ZoneAlarm that was blocking McAfee from getting updates. It was set to notify user of connection attempts & I even created rules for all of the McAfee services. It still blocked the updates. Turned off ZA...everything worked.

It's too bad the crapiest company had to buy out the best free personal firewall. They can at least recognize a threat in the business world. Maybe their expensive personal firewall will work worth a **** now...naaah!

Don't hold your breath on Symantec using the codebase from Sygate in any new projects. The purchase was a buy-to-kill scenario - not a buy-to-incorporate.

The only downside with Sygate is that it's application based, as opposed to rule-based. It's still a good firewall, but if you wanna be really paranoid, then a rules based firewall is the way to go.

Bitdefender Security Suite

do you guys really trust those tests results in firewallleaktester?
i mean come on,jetico get the gold and kaspersky firewall get the best choice.i tried kaspersky firewall before it s*cks.and jetico just can define ip,port filtering like all other firewalls.

BlackIce...

It learns.. It watches and regulates everything to do with installing... It's light.. It's fast.. It's inexpensive..
It's made by good people.. It's honest.. It doesn't slow down the PC.. It works with SeaMonkey and Firefox.. It's compatable with W98se and Norton AVS.. It's easy to configure.. and it hasn't let me down yet...





I too tried that kasperwhoozits... and uninstalled it five minutes later... It came with trojans, locked up the OS twice, and did things that I still don't have proper names for...

Are you sure you didn't download it from KaZaA Resurrected? Or maybe just because it isn't the ultimate BlackIce? Kaspersky is one of the, if not the, best anti-virus, and it's hard to imagine another product made by those people would contain Trojans. Maybe your anti-virus just classifies them as trojans...

I really don't know what's wrong with that K-software.. but the moment I installed it I got a barrage of warning popups from all my security softwares, and lockups, and various strange never before seen computer-glitches...
If it works for you, that's Super... It sure wasn't good for my old Compaq PC... I ended up having to format-C to repair the damage it did to the OS.. plus the 15-hours of reloading my preferred software environment...

I have a Norton 2002 CD and BlackIce and Spybot... They have worked just fine for me...