Should I use a software firewall?

[Zoltarc]

I have a Nokia M1122 ADSL router that performs NAT but I've been wondering if I need to team this up with a software firewall like ZA or SyGate Firewall.

Do I need to or would the NAT provide good enough protection?

 

[minendo]

Better safe than sorry.😉

 

[Soybomb]

I say no 🙂 if you're running nat, I consider the network to be pretty safe internally as long as you know its secure (ie: in your house its cool, in a college dorm I wouldnt trust it) If you think you might get a trojan or something, go for it, but otherwise I vote no because I hate extra crap 😀

 

[JackMDS]

In general, security issues involves:

1. Unauthorized Internet traffic coming in (from the Internet to your computer).
2. Unauthorized Information going out (from your Hard Drive to some one else Web Server).

The latter is done mainly by programs that are ?calling home?. Unfortunately, the amount of programs that are calling home is growing by the day.

The Router?s Firewall secures mainly the Incoming traffic, to secure the Outgoing aspect you need to add Software Firewall.

You can check your system's security here:

NanoProbe Technology Internet Security Testing for Windows Users.

 

[Zoltarc]

Cheers. I keep up-to-date with all the security patches and so forth so I don't believe my PC is at risk.
I scan for spyware regularly and I too hate crap.

I'll stick with my router for now and just use trusty netstat -a

 

[RagManX]

<< Cheers. I keep up-to-date with all the security patches and so forth so I don't believe my PC is at risk.
I scan for spyware regularly and I too hate crap.

I'll stick with my router for now and just use trusty netstat -a >>


Too many trojans and spyware programs (which I really classify as the same, but some don't) are learning how to hide themselves on your computer. Head over to Foundstone and at least get their FPort utility to use in place of netstat. It is much better at finding programs that are trying to hide.

I use a NAT capable router plus a software firewall (plus I'm working on getting a Linux machine in bridging mode in to sniff all traffic to the 'net, but that's a bit more than most folks want). As a security professional, I do love the defense in depth idea, and recommend it to all who ask my opinion.

RagManX

 

[edjam]

Can never be too careful.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I like security in layers. If something bad happens to the router the software firewall is backing you up. If something happens to the software firewall you should have the router backing you up. I use OpenBSD + IPF as my firewall, but Im checking out PF for my OpenBSD desktop, ipfw for my ibook, and iptables for my linux machine, just because Im paranoid. When I get more machines OpenBSD + snort will be setup, but that can wait. Basically, you can never be too careful.