Greetings --
WinXP's built-in firewall is fine at stopping incoming attacks, and
hiding your ports from probes. It doesn't give you any alarms to tell
you that it is working, though. What WinXP also does not do, is
protect you from any Trojans or spyware that you might download and
install inadvertently. It doesn't monitor out-going traffic at all,
much less block (or at least ask you about) the bad or the
questionable out-going packets.
Like WinXP's firewall, NAT-capable routers do nothing to protect
the user from him/herself. Again -- and I _cannot_ emphasize this
enough -- almost all spyware and many Trojans and worms are downloaded
and installed deliberately (albeit unknowingly) by the user. So a
software firewall, such as Sygate or ZoneAlarm, that can detect and
warn the user of unauthorized out-going traffic is an important
element of protecting one's privacy and security. Most antivirus
applications do not scan for or protect you from adware/spyware,
because, after all, you've installed them yourself, so you must want
them there, right?
ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate are all much better than WinXP's
built-in firewall, and are much more easily configured, and there are
a free versions of each readily available. Even Symantec's Norton
Personal Firewall is superior by far, although it does take a heavier
toll of performance then do ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate. It's been
several years since I've been tempted to try McAfee products. Their
quality seemed to take a steep nose-dive after they were acquired by
Network Associates.
I use both a router with NAT and Sygate Personal Firewall, even
though I generally know better than to install scumware. When it
comes to computer security and protecting my privacy, I prefer the old
"belt and suspenders" approach.
Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
