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Will Win7 last as long as XP?
cyberdiva:
What? You mean I shouldn't have put olsentwins.nude.sexy.exe in my trusted programs list so my firewall would stop asking me about it? :D Seriously, though I can see your point, I'm not sure I agree that all is lost as soon as you've got malware on your system. If it's trying to send information out and the firewall prevents it from doing so AND alerts you to the fact that something is trying to do so, you can work on getting rid of the malware before it succeeds in sending out info.
Anyway, thanks for your quick response. You've definitely given me something to think about.
Carol Haynes:
What? You mean I shouldn't have put olsentwins.nude.sexy.exe in my trusted programs list so my firewall would stop asking me about it? :D Seriously, though I can see your point, I'm not sure I agree that all is lost as soon as you've got malware on your system. If it's trying to send information out and the firewall prevents it from doing so AND alerts you to the fact that something is trying to do so, you can work on getting rid of the malware before it succeeds in sending out info.
Anyway, thanks for your quick response. You've definitely given me something to think about.
-cyberdiva (September 13, 2009, 06:22 PM)
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The trouble with software firewalls is that they fall into two categories: set it and forget it (which is no better than those built into XPSP2 and later versions of Windows) and firewalls that allow user control. The latter requires a lot of knowledge and tenacity on the part of users to use the firewall effectively. I would guess that 90% of the time when a third party firewall pops up a prompt the average user just clicks ALLOW without thinking.
A far better solution (IMHO) is to use the Windows firewall behind a hardware router based firewall.
By the way from Windows Vista onwards the built in firewall has outgoing protection features too but you need to configure them.
The other big problem with software firewalls is that software can leak out information without the firewall's knowledge (rendering the protection useless) unless you batten down the security to such an extent that you spend 90% of your time online responding to firewall warning/prompts.
I'm afraid I disagree with f0dder on the need for a good AV solution. With the best will in the world websites and download sites however reputable can make mistakes or be hacked leaving anyone without AV protection exposed to viruses and other malware no matter how careful they are. Granted if you are sensible you are unlikely to get infected but it isn't impossible. Just use a very low impact AV solution such as AVAST for home use or NOD32 for the office.
f0dder:
Carol: well, I wouldn't advise normal people to not use antivirus software - but it works well for me. If there were other people than me using my workstation, I would use protection :)
And good point about leaky software firewalls; imho it's better to not run one (and be careful) than having a false sense of security.
cyberdiva:
Just use a very low impact AV solution such as AVAST for home use or NOD32 for the office.
-Carol Haynes (September 13, 2009, 06:51 PM)
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This seems to be my day for asking questions. Carol, can you tell me why you would recommend a different firewall for home use than for the office? Is there much difference between AVAST and NOD32 other than the fact that AVAST has a free version whereas NOD32 does not?
Carol Haynes:
There are two reasons:
1) They aren't firewall applications - they are AV applications ;)
2) Avast is free for home use, NOD32 isn't
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