palmbrook said:
I am getting conflicting information when I talk to techies about turning my
windows xp firewall off or on. I am currently running on my pc Norton
AntiVirus and Webroot Spy Sweeper and Pop-Up Blocker. I was told that if I
turn the firewall on it could significantly slow down my internet connection
(cable). Right now I have it off. Should I turn it back on?
Ruth
You clearly haven't been talking to anyone with real technical
knowledge! You *need* to have a firewall installed and enabled, if you
connect to the Internet. Period.
WinXP's built-in firewall is adequate at stopping incoming attacks,
and hiding your ports from probes. What WinXP SP2's firewall does not
do, is protect you from any Trojans or spyware that you (or someone
else using your computer) might download and install inadvertently.
It doesn't monitor out-going traffic at all, other than to check for
IP-spoofing, much less block (or at even ask you about) the bad or the
questionable out-going signals. It assumes that any application you
have on your hard drive is there because you want it there, and
therefore has your "permission" to access the Internet. Further,
because the Windows Firewall is a "stateful" firewall, it will also
assume that any incoming traffic that's a direct response to a
Trojan's or spyware's out-going signal is also authorized.
ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate are all much better than WinXP's
built-in firewall, and are much more easily configured, and there are
free versions of each readily available. Even the commercially
available Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall is superior by far,
although it does take a heavier toll of system performance then do
ZoneAlarm or Sygate.
--
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
