Firewall?

[Xenon14]

I have Windows XP SP2, and it has a built-in firewall that allows me to control access to programs, etc. Is that a satisfactory firewall (my gut instinct says no)? I have had ZoneAlarm a few years ago, and I recall that my computer went to hell after I installed it, nothing worked right.

So, is the Windows Firewall good enough? What firewalls are you guys running? Any compatability problems with internet apps b/c of them?

 

[n0cmonkey]

It should be ok for most things. Now sure how well it blocks outgoing things though. SP2 was supposed to have a better firewall than sp1, but I haven't seen a lot on it.

 

[Mem]

What firewalls are you guys running?

I`m behind a router but I`m using Kerio personal firewall 4,my 2nd favourite is Sygate personal firewall(which is free).

The right firewall really is personal peference, but normally if you stick with the well known ones you can`t go far wrong IMHO.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I'm using OpenBSD. It was rated the best windows firewall by some Windows mailing list.

 

[XplosiV]

SP 2 or SP 1a ( as oppose to 1 ) Service pack one 1a, the only difference was that it changed the default setting for your firewall to be on, where as under SP1 the default setting was off, and it had to be manually turned on. As for what im using, im using a Belkin router with built in NAT firewall with DMZ, works good for me.

The right firewall really is personal peference, but normally if you stick with the well known ones you can`t go far wrong IMHO.

Its the common firewalls / AV's and other products that the script kiddies learn to mess with first and fastest. i know for a fact there was a hole in sysgate and many others which lead to a leak test utility being developed, think the hole was something about infecting / bypassing a system by in some way loading right into a pracess space. Anyhow, common stuff does get attacked more ( in terms of reverse engineering / cracking / exploits ) Just find something that will make your ports invis to an IP scan and thats about it.

 

[n0cmonkey]

There's holes in everything. If you're that worried about it, don't get on the 'net.

 

[Cheetah8799]

If you have a spare old rig, you could setup a Smoothwall or IPCop dedicated firewall.

 

[Davegod]

from what Ive read (only news articles) the SP2 firewall is meant to be pretty decent - but I'd assume they were meaning in the context of relative to original XP one and for joe public "firewall? wouldnt that hurt my pc?" home user.

I just use Zonealarm. I'm sure its not great, but probably good enough (combined with XP tweaks, firebird browser, thunderbird email and antivirus) so that only someone skilled and targeting my machine is liable to get in - which tbh they probably could regardless of firewall.

zonealarm IS easy to use, and hasnt caused any problem for me. the only exception is occasionally forget to manually setup a new game with it, since a few games dont like to minimise so I can set the permissions popup.

"best firewall?" threads can go on and on, same as "best AV?" ones. there's no real answer, and nobody knows it anyway, plus different things suit different people's needs better. As with all security software though, check for updates regularily for whatever fw you use.