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Best free firewall for Windows?
4wd:
So for a software firewall I've settled on PCTools Firewall V3.-4wd (January 23, 2008, 03:55 AM)
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With or without ThreatFire ??
-Curt (January 23, 2008, 10:00 AM)
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Sorry, for the slow reply - only visit when the moon is blue, red, green or purple :P
Without, I don't use any form of HIPS. Since anything 'nasty' that starts to run has to:
a) get onto my PC - which is hard for anyone to do physically.
b) get through the router's firewall, the only open ports go to a dumb NAS not capable of running software - and the router uses SPI, so the connection has to be originated at my end first.
c) get through NAT translation.
d) get through PCTools Firewall V3, which also has SPI on plus it has basic 'software-not-doing-the-right-thing' protection, (in the Application rules).
e) and finally I've even found avast! AntiVirus free edition works remarkably well for picking up stray malware/spyware.
I used to run HIPS of one kind or another, (was a while ago and can't recall any of the products - damn alcohol!), but just found that they caused to much interference with my normal operation of my computer.
I'll also mention here another scenario I have:
I have a XP-SP2 PC, it's an old Dell Optiplex GX150 PIII-1GHz running as a headless, (no keyboard, mouse, monitor), Usenet downloader. It runs 24/7/365.
It doesn't have a firewall, (not even the default XP). It doesn't have antivirus. It's only form of protection is the router, (firewall/NAT). It has run for more than a year. It has never had a virus/spyware/malware/software problem.
Why?
It runs ONE program only, (SABnzbd - which is compiled Python). It doesn't execute anything it downloads, (it doesn't even get unarchived). It doesn't do Microsoft updates, it doesn't do any updates. It is permanently stuck at SP2.
4wd:
Darwin,
I was tempted to try it myself but I read somewhere it doesn't have checks for dll injection. You may want to look this up (I'm not sure if it's been rectified in the newer versions) before you make it a permanent fixture.
-nosh (January 27, 2008, 01:34 PM)
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The free version of PCTools Firewall V3 allows you to set the following permissions for applications:
Memory Injection
Access through Child process
OLE object activation
All can be set for Allow, Block or Prompt.
I say free version because it allows you to enter a registration code but I don't know whether you need to buy it or just register online - I haven't bothered and it still works.
I will mention that under Settings->Filtering you can turn on 'Protection against Code Injection' - I don't know if this is what you mean.
The only time I turned it on I stupidly answered Block to a requester, (when I should have Allow'ed), and that was the last time I saw the Desktop for a couple of hours while I recovered the system :-[
Oh, as a bonus it is about the only free firewall I've found, (besides purely rule-based, ala Ghostwall), that installs and runs on Windows Server 2003. Most of the others won't install either because they don't support it, (eg. Comodo), or because it's automatically assumed you're a corporation, (ergo, you need to buy the Enterprise Edition or some such).
Darwin:
Now, I’m not saying OA’s perfect. I’ve had enough problems with firewalls to know that some can appear after a month of daily use! Darwin obviously had problems with it, and I did have some small issues (with StrokeIt — but that’s easily fixed). But, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best firewall I’ve tried so far… If they can fix some of the CPU “peaks” with uTorrent (and maybe others… like in Darwin’s case, I don’t know), it would be almost perfect for my needs. (I'm talking about the free version here -- the paid version might be even better... who knows.)-Armando (February 03, 2008, 04:12 PM)
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Armando is right - if the few wrinkles could be ironed out I'd happily run OA FW. I feel pretty comfortable with my current setup - Windows Firewall and my router firewall. However, I'd be perfectly happy running a more robust software firewall if I could find one that didn't make such a dent in my resources. I don't mind popups and distractions - a good firewall learns from your responses and pretty quickly just leaves you alone. I can't stand my CPU being tied up though... The perils of single core! Actually, I suppose I should be a good netizen/software freak and submit a bug report to the developers. Right, off to do that now...
EDIT: just cleaning up.... darn tenses!
nosh:
I tried OA, it kept popping up runtime errors. The other apps didn't freeze up like with Comodo but everything went into slow-motion, including my download speeds. I have to assume that something on my system doesn't like HIPS or more likely, the other way round. Judging by the hit a PC takes with HIPS installed, anyone installing it should give some serious thought to whether it is _really_ worth it. For me getting rid of HIPS wasn't even a security decision, more like whether I wanted to keep using my PC or not. Am back with Comodo (sans HIPS, of course) Maybe my experience was a lot worse than some of you considering my P4 3GHz Prescott is kinda dated... and yet, kinda state-of-the-art, compared to other frying pans!
Curt:
... Isn’t giving a firewall a :down: because it’s not perfectly compatible with PS tray a bit… extreme ?? ...-Armando (February 03, 2008, 04:12 PM)
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I have a license for Outpost Pro, so I don't have to tolerate any problems. ;)
The Danes ruled certain parts of Ireland a thousand years ago, so there may be some Irishmen with Danish blood, but I am quite sure that I don't have Irish blood...
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