Which Firewall and Anti-Virus?

[zm2002]

Good Day,

I have my home computer connected to the internet via a cable connection.

My questions:

[1] I would like to install some software to avoid internet attacks and unauthorized accesses on my machine. What do I need? A firewall? Which one is the best around?

[2] Which Anti-Virus do you recomend?


Thank You.
ZM

 

[TheWart]

Tiny Personal Firewall


AVG Antivirus

 

[zm2002]

I've downloaded Tiny Personal Firewall manual and I'm having a quick look at it ...

I was thinking for a firewall as ZoneAlarm ... I don't know which is better ... so I would like some more opinions about this kind of software ... and maybe some discussion of which should be best ...

Thank you for your advices ... I really need them ...
ZM

 

[peterskm]

When I got my cable internet access, I was clueless as to which firewall to use. I read some revies and it seems that ZoneAlarm and Norton Personal Firewall are the top two with regards to features and ease of use. I tried ZoneAlarm first, but now I am running Personal Firewall. They are pretty similar, but I think I prefer Norton better. YMMV.

 

[GrumpyMan]

I am now trying Norton PF 2002. I find with my new cable connection that I cannot connect to many sites, I just get cannot locate DNS server blah blah error page in IE6. Are there any known issues with it? Also my liveupdate does not work on PF downloads. It gives me a red X and says it cannot update.

 

[BKR]

I tried zone alarm originally, but I switched to tiny and it doesn't seem to hog as much computer resources. Seems to be a little lighter, but a little more difficult to get set up initially.

 

[BKR]

Oh and I'm using norton antivirus 2002 and it works like a champ.

 

[TLScrappy]

I use Norton PF 2002 and Norton AV with Windozzzz XP home as an OS. Sometimes I need to reset Norton PF by changing the firewall settings and then returning them to their original state. It seems to do this the most when I am going to a secure site. Otherwise no problems. Symantec is real good with updates. I would also recommend a router in addition to a software firewall. Good luck!
RP

 

[leftyman]

norton av 2002 and tiny firewall for xp. i was using zone alarm but it seemed a little buggy in xp. tiny works like a champ.

 

[n0cmonkey]

If you do a search you may find one of the many discussions on the topics of firewalls (and anti-virus Im sure). Not much has changed since the last time there was a big discussion I dont think.

 

[NicColt]

the amateurs and n00b seems to stick with TPF, ZoneAlarm and stuff like that. If you want a more trustworthy, proven and more professional product go with Norton Internet Security which has everything you will ever need.

 

[zm2002]

First of all, thank you guys for your opinions, they are really helpfull, really

I would like to know if Norton Internet Security (firewall) brings up lots of popup windows, whenever I try to do something in the net (it is a bit annoying), like if I want to send something like a password, or download anything, making a jump to a Yes/No popup window.

I think this should be customizable, though ... but I don't want to limit in any kind my own access to the net ... I want to install a firewall to the others accessing my computer, not for myself accessing the internet , like don't allowing me to do something in the internet without me having to fiddle with underground settings on the firewall ...

Thanks

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< the amateurs and n00b seems to stick with TPF, ZoneAlarm and stuff like that. If you want a more trustworthy, proven and more professional product go with Norton Internet Security which has everything you will ever need. >>



I have met several security PROFESSIONALS (much better pros than myself ) that use TPF or Zone Alarm (and a couple that use black ice). So the amateur/newbie (NOT n00b, thats just stupid) thing is BS

 

[308nato]

I use what my employers company IT pros chose as the best all around solution after their own testing. ZoneAlarm Pro and Panda anti-virus.

 

[Muse]

Based on what I've read in this thread and a previous recommendation, I went hunting for Zonealarm. When it was recommended to me it was said to be free. I saw a price on Zonealarm Pro 3.0, something like $30 or $40, but found a version 2.6 that's evidently freeware. I installed it in all my bootable partitions (Win2k SP2, Win98SE, WinNT 4.0 SP6a) with default settings. Seems OK so far, but I have almost no experience with firewalls. None on my own personal systems, that is. I opted to register and receive email alerts, etc. in each OS.

 

[zm2002]

What about BlackIce?

 

[GeSuN]

the amateurs and n00b seems to stick with TPF, ZoneAlarm and stuff like that. If you want a more trustworthy, proven and more professional product go with Norton Internet Security which has everything you will ever need.

If you know Steve Gibson from GRC.COM you'll agree with me that this is not a n00b... Creating security patches for Windows NT/2000 in 2 days for the FBI is quite impressing... Just go on his site and see all what he did, created, wrote. He's amazing.

Anyway if Steve is recommending ZoneAlarm, then I'll go with his choice. If he was recommending something else, I would follow him.

 

[GeSuN]

What about BlackIce?

Here's what can be found on GRC.COM website, in the Leaktest Section.

Eleven Months after the release of our first, simple, but effective and popular (2,633,456 downloads) LeakTest firewall testing utility, BlackICE Defender (BID) continues to "leak" ? as defined by LeakTest. But a recent update to BID (version 2.9cai) was hiding this fact from its users by effectively cheating the LeakTest.

Rather than enhancing BlackICE Defender by adding the sort of application-level controls that are available even from many completely free personal firewalls, BID's publisher, NetworkICE, apparently chose to prevent LeakTest's intended operation by adding specific awareness to BID of LeakTest's remote testing IP.

I hope this answers your question

 

[syzygy]

i would recommend agnitum outpost firewall.
its free and passes gibson's leaktest.
outpost is ruled based per appplication, like zoney, and has the added feature of
ad blocking, helping those with slow connect to load pages faster.

 

[Muse]

<< the amateurs and n00b ... snip... >>

Dude, what's "n00b"?

 

[n0cmonkey]

<<

<< the amateurs and n00b ... snip... >>

Dude, what's "n00b"? >>

>>



Its llama for "newbie."

EDIT: Missing an end quote tag :/

 

[Muse]

<< the amateurs and n00b ... snip... >>

Dude, what's "n00b"? >>



Its llama for "newbie."[/i] >>

Oh, man... What's "llama"? My Google hits take me to South America... hahahahahahaha....

 

[Muse]

I installed Zonealarm 2.6 a couple days ago after running with no firewall for 3 years on a static IP, DSL. I'm getting around half a dozen intrusion attempts messages a day from Zonealarm, which naturally blocks them. I'm a n00b, for sure, but I figure it's because my IP is already stored in lots of people's databases as a hit, am I right? I assume that some of these databases will delete me when they can't hit me, but I've got that albatross around my neck as a hit for some time. I guess I should turn off the alerts from Zonealarm, since they aren't going to do much more than annoy me. Suggestions, comments welcome.

 

[n0cmonkey]

<<

<< the amateurs and n00b ... snip... >>

Dude, what's "n00b"? >>



Its llama for "newbie." >>

Oh, man... What's "llama"? My Google hits take me to South America... hahahahahahaha....[/i] >>



Old IRC term for lamer



<< I installed Zonealarm 2.6 a couple days ago after running with no firewall for 3 years on a static IP, DSL. I'm getting around half a dozen intrusion attempts messages a day from Zonealarm, which naturally blocks them. I'm a n00b, for sure, but I figure it's because my IP is already stored in lots of people's databases as a hit, am I right? I assume that some of these databases will delete me when they can't hit me, but I've got that albatross around my neck as a hit for some time. I guess I should turn off the alerts from Zonealarm, since they aren't going to do much more than annoy me. Suggestions, comments welcome. >>



You will get alarms no matter what. They will keep coming day in and day out. Dont worry about it.

 

[QwErTyBk]

ZA worked great for a while. But in XP it occasionally "forgets" all of my settings. I have all of my permissions on my computer set just the way I want them, and the next time I boot up they are gone. Right now it "remembers" which programs have accessed the internet before and things like that, but still prompts me to permit them. I've had enogh of that hassle, and switched to Tiny Personal Firewall. Works well so far and passes that leak test. But like I said, ZA worked great for a few moths too. We shall see.