Firewalls

[Guest]

I have used Zonealarm Pro for years. I recently tried to upgrade it and it
blew up. The old version stopped working and the new one could not be
installed. I spent hours working on it to little avail. So I turned windows
firewall back on,

I don't believe that windows firewall is sufficient. What do people
recommend?

Thank you.

 

[Straight Talk]

I have used Zonealarm Pro for years. I recently tried to upgrade it and it
blew up. The old version stopped working and the new one could not be
installed. I spent hours working on it to little avail. So I turned windows
firewall back on,

I don't believe that windows firewall is sufficient.

Why not? Because of the lack of "outbound control" nonsense?

What do people recommend?

I recommend Brain 1.0 together with robust software kept up-to-date.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your post. Do you consider the outbound control issue
nonsense? If so, could you explain? I am not in an IT field so I rely a
great deal on what I read and there are a lot of varying opinions re:
Windows Firewall.

Thank you. Also, where can I get Brain 1.0

 

[Leythos]

Thank you for your post. Do you consider the outbound control issue
nonsense? If so, could you explain? I am not in an IT field so I rely a
great deal on what I read and there are a lot of varying opinions re:
Windows Firewall.

A simple, cheap, NAT Router appliance, most are under $50, will provide
more and better protection than any Soft Firewall application on your
computer, and even more so for Windows XP Firewall (or vista).

The device will block all unsolicited connections inbound to your
computer by default, without exception, without any errors, and most of
them have no known exploits to break that at this time.

This device protection does not stop outbound traffic, but, some of the
better units can block content from reaching your computer through HTTP
or SMTP.

--

Leythos
- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"
(e-mail address removed) (remove 999 for proper email address)

 

[Straight Talk]

Thank you for your post.

Do you consider the outbound control issue nonsense?

Not in general. But host-based outbound application control on a
windows platform is nonsense.

If so, could you explain?
http://home20.inet.tele.dk/b_nice/PFW.htm

I am not in an IT field so I rely a great deal on what I read

Be sure to read from different sources - and especially take
information from "security software" vendors with a big grain of salt.

and there are a lot of varying opinions re: Windows Firewall.

Yes, and most are wrong about it.

Also, where can I get Brain 1.0

You've already got it. It's placed between your ears ;-)

IMO computer and internet security is 20% tech and 80% behaviour. You
need to learn how to deal with the internet in a safe way.


To quickly sum up the most important ground rules:

* Don't offer any network services to the internet.

* Use a limited user account for daily tasks.

* Keep your system patched (both OS and applications)

* Don't run any software from sources you don't trust.

* Don't use IE for web-surfing and don't use OE as mail client.

* Use your browsers ability to allow client-side scripting only for
specific sites you trust. Disallow by default.

* Don't click links in e-mails.

* Don't open attachments in e-mails unless you are sure about what it
is.

* If you use wireless, make sure it's strongly encrypted.

 

[Maximus the Mad]

Not in general. But host-based outbound application control on a
windows platform is nonsense.


http://home20.inet.tele.dk/b_nice/PFW.htm

some would differ
http://www.getsafeonline.org/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=1146
max
--
My Pages:
Virus Removal Instructions:
http://www.freespaces.com/maxwachtel/removal.html
Keeping Windows Clean:
http://www.freespaces.com/maxwachtel/keepingclean.html
Tools: http://www.freespaces.com/maxwachtel/tools.html
Change nomail.afraid.org to gmail.com to reply. nomail.afraid.org is
specifically setup for USENET.Feel free to use it yourself.
Always remember - only download files from Trusted Sites.
"VISTA" is an acronym for the top five Windows problems: Viruses,
Infections, Spyware, Trojans and Adware. -PanHandler
Registered Linux User #393236

 

[Maximus the Mad]

Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a
drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

lmao

max
--
My Pages:
Virus Removal Instructions:
http://www.freespaces.com/maxwachtel/removal.html
Keeping Windows Clean:
http://www.freespaces.com/maxwachtel/keepingclean.html
Tools: http://www.freespaces.com/maxwachtel/tools.html
Change nomail.afraid.org to gmail.com to reply. nomail.afraid.org is
specifically setup for USENET.Feel free to use it yourself.
Always remember - only download files from Trusted Sites.
"VISTA" is an acronym for the top five Windows problems: Viruses,
Infections, Spyware, Trojans and Adware. -PanHandler
Registered Linux User #393236

 

[Straight Talk]

some would differ
http://www.getsafeonline.org/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=1146
max

Seems like the usual "load your computer with as much security
software as possible" kind of socalled "common knowledge" induced by
the security software industry.

Heck, they don't even promote basic security meassures like running as
a limited user.

 

[Steve Riley [MSFT]]

I've written about the fallacy of outbound protection several times, most
recently in the June issue of TechNet Magazine:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/06/VistaFirewall/default.aspx.
The article mostly explains changes to the firewall in Windows Vista, but
includes a section on why we continue to omit the kind of outbound
protection you see in other firewalls.

I'll quote one paragraph here:

There’s an important axiom of security that you must understand: protection
belongs on the asset you want to protect, not on the thing you’re trying to
protect against. The correct approach is to run the lean yet effective
Windows firewall on every computer in your organization, to protect each one
from every other computer in the world. If you try to block outbound
connections from a computer that’s already compromised, how can you be sure
that the computer is really doing what you ask? The answer: you can’t.
Outbound protection is security theater--it’s a gimmick that only gives the
impression of improving your security without doing anything that actually
does improve your security. This is why outbound protection didn’t exist in
the Windows XP firewall and why it doesn’t exist in the Windows Vista
firewall.


Steve Riley
(e-mail address removed)
http://blogs.technet.com/steriley