Best Freeware Firewall?

[elaich]

It is usually assumed that running several firewalls on a same machine
is neither safe nor system-friendly. Could you explain why you made this
choice ?

I tested a number of firewalls running in tandem. Most of them didn't "play
nice." Kerio 2.1.5 and Sygate 5.5 get along perfectly.

To read my original post on this several months ago, go here:

http://tinyurl.com/bd8lc

 

[elaich]

Firewalls block ports, so if firewall A blocked a port, it's blocked.
Regardless of what firewall B does. If you have 2 valves in a pipe
and turn one off, how can you get water by doing something to the
other valve? The second valve is just a waste of a valve.

This isn't about ports - it's about processes and vulnerabilities.

 

[antoine]

I tested a number of firewalls running in tandem. Most of them didn't "play
nice." Kerio 2.1.5 and Sygate 5.5 get along perfectly.

To read my original post on this several months ago, go here:

http://tinyurl.com/bd8lc

Thanks for pointing to this post. Very informative indeed. The price to
pay running 3 firewall(-like) software at the same time is probably some
more tweaking/setting up job, and some ram/cpu consumption.

Best regards,
Antoine

 

[Mike Gasson]

I run Kerio 2.1.5, Sygate 5.5 build 2710, and System Safety Monitor. Using
this combination, I pass 22 of the 23 tests at firewallleaktester.com. So
much for "obsolete" software.

I'm running Kerio 4.2.2 but If I uninstall it to install 2.1.5 it won't
let me. I've cleaned out the registry but it refuses to install. When
was 2.1.5 'stopped'? Is it still supported or is it like 4.2.2, no
support?

 

[Aaron]

Looks to me SSM is making all the difference. Sygate seems to be pointless.
Why not just Kerio +SSM?

Thanks for pointing to this post. Very informative indeed. The price
to pay running 3 firewall(-like) software at the same time is probably
some more tweaking/setting up job, and some ram/cpu consumption.

Based on the results, I would say SSM+kerio looks like a good idea. And SSM
is a system firewall instead of a network firewall, so it makes sense to
run it instead of yet another network firewall.

 

[Aaron]

Set different security levels for each. Then, if the tightest one
stops working then the backup one being activated should alert you
to problems.

I suppose it's the same like the argument about running 2 antiviruses
with on access protection at the same time. Few people have tried it
because "logically" conflicts might occur at least on paper, but you
never know until you try. And even if you got lucky on a combo that
seemed to work, you never know when it might blow up.

But that is balanced by the pros of having 2 different signature
databases at the same time.

I personally don't like the idea of running 2 firewalls at the same time,
because I suspect the gains will be far less than running 2 antiviruses
though.

I know some guys are running around with kerio2 plus some other firewall
to try to cover for the fragmented packet problem, but in most cases, I
don't see the point unless you know your firewall has some problem.

This is not like antiviruses which are known to be far less than perfect
at detecting malware, so that a second opinion is good.

Some people I think are worried about leak tests, but the answer to leak
tests is not slapping on another network firewall. Most freeware versions
except maybe jetico are bad at leak tests anyway so you don't gain
anything by stacking them up. The answer is something like SSM, antihook
etc..

 

[H-Man]

Hello to all and thanks for reading. I see that Kerio will no longer be
a free firewall with support.

I am looking for recommendations for a freeware replacement for it.
What is the "best" personal firewall available?

Thanks, Howard

PC Magazine just did a thing on free firewalls, and ZoneAlarm came highly
recommended, FWIW.

 

[tf76]

I use it and recommend it. Choices are getting limited now.
Kerio's going and sygate might go as well.
Although there is filesclab personal firewall, which I also recommend

tf76

http://www.topfreeware.net
Member of The Freeware Revolution

 

[s|b]

PC Magazine just did a thing on free firewalls, and ZoneAlarm came highly
recommended, FWIW.

Isn't ZA considered to be "the AOL of firewalls" ? Not so long ago
Free ZA screwed up yEnc and Zonelabs took ages to fix this (in Free
ZA).

 

[Franklin]

On Thu 20 Oct 2005 16:24:34, Sysyphus' Sister wrote:

Would be nice if I posted the CORRECT website! Sorry about that!

http://www.filseclab.com/eng/download/downloads.htm

I installed Filseclab Firewall.

How do you easily get to see the most recent log entries?

I can see the text logfile but it doesn't have column headings.

I can see the log file viewer in Filseclab but it seems to be hard
work to get to the latest entries.

Any info, anyone?

 

[Franklin]

On Fri 21 Oct 2005 03:26:53, elaich wrote:

This isn't about ports - it's about processes and
vulnerabilities.

.... and also about

different comms protocols
identifiable patterns of attack
tunnelling under firewalls
ease and range of function of rules (if any)
specific vulnerabilities of individual products
searchability of logs
config of settings for DHCP, DNS, UBR

etc!

 

[Franklin]

On Thu 20 Oct 2005 05:54:48, elaich wrote:

I run Kerio 2.1.5, Sygate 5.5 build 2710, and System Safety
Monitor. Using this combination, I pass 22 of the 23 tests at
firewallleaktester.com. So much for "obsolete" software.

How would you compare SSM to ProcessGuard? The blurbs below
suggests a lot of overlaps.

"SSM controls which programs are running on your computer and what
they are doing. For example, SSM can prevent so called "DLL
Injection". Also, SSM will notify you whenever a program you want
to start was modified. In addition, SSM can constantly check your
registry and alert you, when an important modification was made."
http://syssafety.com/ - FREEWARE

ProcessGuard ... "protects Windows processes from attacks by other
processes, services, drivers, and other forms of executing code on
your system. ProcessGuard also stops applications from executing
without the users consent, stops malicious worms and trojans from
being executed silently in the background, as well as a variety of
other attacks."
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/processguard/ - FREEWARE


I found ProcessGuard needed way too much system power and
sometimes slowed me right down. Is SSM like this?

 

[Frank Bohan]

On Thu 20 Oct 2005 05:54:48, elaich wrote:

ProcessGuard ... "protects Windows processes from attacks by other
processes, services, drivers, and other forms of executing code on
your system. ProcessGuard also stops applications from executing
without the users consent, stops malicious worms and trojans from
being executed silently in the background, as well as a variety of
other attacks."
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/processguard/ - FREEWARE


I found ProcessGuard needed way too much system power and
sometimes slowed me right down. Is SSM like this?

I'm running Process Guard and Prevx together. PG uses 624KB of memory and
Prevx(Sagui) uses 1720KB.
IMHO hardly "too much system power". No noticeable reduction in speed.

===

Frank Bohan
¶ Computer chips are small because computers don't eat much.

 

[Mike Gasson]

I'm running Process Guard and Prevx together. PG uses 624KB of memory and
Prevx(Sagui) uses 1720KB.
IMHO hardly "too much system power". No noticeable reduction in speed.

Do you use Processguard as your main firewall? I'm trying Bitdefender
but I'm not sure whether I can run both at the same time or whether PG
will suffice?
Thanks.

 

[Aaron]

Ditto. I even add SSM for laughs sometimes.

A good replacement for PG is antihook. It's on par with PG full version,
but complicated to use.

Do you use Processguard as your main firewall? I'm trying Bitdefender
but I'm not sure whether I can run both at the same time or whether PG
will suffice?

No offense but I think it's foolish to use processguard as your "main
firewall". You still need a personal firewall ZA,kerio whatrever to handle
inbound and outbound network connections. I suppose if you had a hardware
firewall, you might be able to get away with it.

 

[Mike Gasson]

Ditto. I even add SSM for laughs sometimes.

A good replacement for PG is antihook. It's on par with PG full version,
but complicated to use.


No offense None taken
but I think it's foolish to use processguard as your "main
firewall". You still need a personal firewall ZA,kerio whatrever to handle
inbound and outbound network connections. I suppose if you had a hardware
firewall, you might be able to get away with it.

I was using BitDefender IS as my firewall/AV when I came across this
discussion about ProcessGuard, hence my question.

 

[Aaron]

I was using BitDefender IS as my firewall/AV when I came across this
discussion about ProcessGuard, hence my question.

Well you asked if PG alone would suffice, and my answer is no. You still
need your bitdefender firewall/av suite.

 

[Mike Gasson]

Well you asked if PG alone would suffice, and my answer is no. You still
need your bitdefender firewall/av suite.

Thanks Aaron, that's answered my question. Its just that I was concerned
as to whether the 2 programs would interfere with each other.

 

[Frank Bohan]

Do you use Processguard as your main firewall? I'm trying Bitdefender but
I'm not sure whether I can run both at the same time or whether PG will
suffice?
Thanks.

Mike: My main firewall is ZoneAlarm and I also have the XP Firewall running.
I've never tried Bitdefender.

===

Frank Bohan
¶ How high I am, how much I see, how far I reach, depends on me.

 

[Mike Gasson]

Mike: My main firewall is ZoneAlarm and I also have the XP Firewall running.
I've never tried Bitdefender.

===

Frank Bohan
¶ How high I am, how much I see, how far I reach, depends on me.

I've now been using BitDefender and ProcessGuard together for a few days
now and they seem to working quite happily together so I'm happy,
although perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned BD in this group as it is
not freeware but my query was really about Process Guard.