Best software firewall

[Nebben]

I know, I know. They should worry about having a clue first. But if you had to recommend a software firewall solution to someone that pretty much knows nothing beyond the basics of operating a computer, which would it be?

The system in question is running Win2k, fully patched.

I use Kerio personally, and have never used Sygate, so I'm not sure which would be best.

 

[angstsoldat]

Definately not Zone Alarm go read my post

 

[blodhi74]

Zone Alarm pro

 

[BlueWeasel]

Kerio v2.15....it's a older version that doesn't hog system resources and is effective/easy to set up.

 

[Rottie]

I have both Sygate Personal firewall and Zonealarm Pro. I understand that ZA might be too bloat or memory hog or too hard to onfigure to your taste but I don't have any problem with it on my speedy PC with large memory. Sygate is on my laptop because it is very low resource but it doesn't offer much options like ZA have.

 

[skisteven1]

Personally, i think sygate is WAY WAY WAY better than ZA. On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't know what they're doing.

so... i really have no idea. lol.

 

[fastman]

I use ZA, if configured properly it runs great.

 

[fastman]

I use ZA, if configured properly it runs great.

 

[mechBgon]

If it's broadband, and the computer stays in one place all the time, then IMHO the best software firewall for protection from Internet threats would be the software firewall running inside of a router. Can't be shut down by viruses/worms, never fails to load, no user interaction involved in day-to-day usage. You can give the router a complex password such as Nebben@AT.com and enable remote administration if you need to be able to adjust stuff from outside (for mom, gf, etc).

:heart: suggested budget router and lockdown tips

If that's not a complete solution (laptop computer, for example, or a computer on dial-up) then I would use ZoneAlarm personal version, turn off its alerting, set Trusted Zone security to High, and run it through its normal usage patterns before giving it back to the clueless owner. If protection against outside threats is the main goal, then I would consider slapping a little more RAM into it, upgrading it to WinXP Pro SP2 and just using the WinXP fireall, preferably in conjunction with a Limited-class account.

Just my 2¢ worth, I haven't tried Sygate or Kerio myself so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[angstsoldat]

Does the Windows Firewall use much system resources?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: angstsoldat
Does the Windows Firewall use much system resources?

Good question. I want to say "no" but I haven't tried any before-&-after tests.

One thing I like about the Windows Firewall is that, because it's part of Windows, it cannot be shut down by a Limited-class user, or by malware that's subverted a Limited-class account. It's quite a common practice for malware to try to take out the Windows Firewall and the Windows Security Center in a 1-2 punch so the protection's gone and the user doesn't know, so locking away the power to make those changes is a nice "gotcha!" secondary countermeasure. Although it's still preferable to avoid malware infections in the first place, eh?

OTOH, the Windows Firewall was designed to protect against outside attacks, not to stop stuff from getting out from "inside" without permission, so the others are superior in that way. It sort of depends on one's goal. I'd be content with Windows Firewall (plus a locked-down router if I had broadband).

< / rambling >

 

[GhettoFob]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
Kerio v2.15....it's a older version that doesn't hog system resources and is effective/easy to set up.

:thumbsup:

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: mechBgon*Just my 2¢ worth, I haven't tried Sygate or Kerio myself so take that with a grain of salt.

While it is easy to find out the amount of Process and working RAM that Firewall program use, it is hard to actually measure the general resource taking.

A plain Vanilla Firewall like Windows Native firewall probably takes the least of resource as compare to the others. However. other firewall program take more because they do more.

As an Example, the core of Norton Internet Security (NIS) comes from AtGuard.

AtGuard was a 3.3MB program of which about 2MB resided in memory with one or two process running.

NIS is 75MB installation it takes 30MB of working RAM and run 4 to 5 processes.

It is not an issue of good or bad it depends whether you need the additional capacities or not.

I would be very happy with what AtGuard can do, alas it works only with Win98.

On computers that run a "Fixed" known set of installed programs, andusers are not allow to add thier own selections, I use Windows Native Firewall.

Other computers that might be used by few people, or and are used for trying new programs and Internet ventures I would not switch On without using a two way control Firewall.

You would be amazed seeing the amount of calling home that most programs do these days.

There are lots of Free Firewall programs out there. However some are crippled in certain ways, other are big, and some are annoyingly Popping up with windows enticing you to buy the Pro version.

Kerio v215 and Outpost are popular since they are small not annoying and rather comprehensive.

:sun:

* Best General SATA Page - http://www.omnicast.net/~tmcfadden/guides/build/SATA.html

 

[Gannon]

Norton personal firewall / internet security for non-gamers, in my opinion the whole internet security package is best for newbies who aren't performance nuts about how much memory something uses. Not to mention live-update from a respected company like symantec will ensure timely updates in software flaws.

Kerio personal firewall is better for gamers or fickle people concerned with how much memory their firewall is using, since most firewalls even the memory hogs dont appreciably slow down performance of most cpu intensive applications. Norton has a good interface even though it takes up more ram, norton is quick to catch programs like trojans attempting to communicate to the internet it ID's all EXE files so you won't have apps pretending to be internet explorer just because of it being named iexplorer.exe getting through because of nortons process checking of the ID's of exe files.

Kerio is probably the best small no nonsense firewall around the only issue people might have with it is the interface is a little ugly and on more rigorous settings it asks you for permission rules before executing any executable file even ones that do not connect to the internet that can be quite annoying until you set get all the exes permit rules into the software, you'd be surprised at how many things you dont know are being executed behind your back when you turn on application security of Kerio.

 

[Jolt2]

Tiny Personal Firewall 2

Links:

http://www.brothersoft.com/Utilities_Security_Tiny_Personal_Firewall_81.html

http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page3.html

Here is some info from the second link:
"While you are formally correct that this is the last free version under the name of "Tiny", the story is that the original developers of Tiny Personal Firewall splitted from TinySoftware, and opened a new company named Kerio. The rights of the source code of Tiny Personal Firewall 2, remained with them, and the continued to develop it, but under the name "Kerio Personal Firewall 2", rather than "Tiny personal Firewall 2". Thus you may see that Kerio 2, is really the same as Tiny 2, and is still free for home on-commercial use (just as Tiny 2 was). It has a different icon, and they added an internal help, but the interface and features are the same, and so is the engine.
Kerio 2 can still be downloaded from Kerio's site. Last free version is 2.1.5 (they no longer develop version 2, version 3, has not publically released, and version 4, is written from the scratch."

There is also a link to Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5 there too. The Tiny Firewall is tiny and simple.

 

[skisteven1]

I just installed Kerio to replace Sygate, and HATED it. I mean, I really know what I'm doing with computers, and what's going on in my computer, and I coudln't make heads or tails of Kerio. With sygate, it would ask me anytime a program tried to do something until I specified a rule for the program. Something like "Firefox.exe is trying to contract XXXX on port 80".

With Kerio, it would say "INCOMING ALERT" even when I was really going outgoing. It didn't list the program trying to go out, nor the port. It was as though it didn't really know what was going on or something. I just couldn't tell what it was trying to do. However, if it would correctly identify software and communications attempts, I really liked the interface and the customization possibilities.

 

[bunker]

Norton Internet Security. My dad is a clueless comp user and he uses and pretty much fully understands Norton. Sure it bugs you about your virus subscription after a year, but he pays it, because he doesn't know any better and I don't have to play tech support for him very often, which is another bonus