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Best free firewall for Windows?
OldElmerFudd:
Firewalls? I haven't smelled smoke..oh, THOSE firewalls.
Some thoughts:
) ISTR XP's firewall doesn't stop outbound baddies.
2) Yes, I know ZA's gotten fat over the years, but I use it on all our machines. Bite-sized trouble and I also sit behind a hardware firewall, and I routinely install multiple layers of AV, anti-spyware, anti-adware, and anti-trojan screeners and sweepers in every machine I get my hands on.
III) I check all the boxes all the time.
Software I use: AVG Free, Eset NOD 32, Spybot, Spywareblaster, SpywareGuard, SpySweeper, A2 Free, ZA, AdAware, TrojanHunter, and more. Not to mention WinPatrol Plus, Prevx...guards! Seize him! OK, I'll go quietly now.
I'm not really paranoid, just kind of a-retentive thorough about this stuff. Depending on the machine, I'll even use (shudder) payware.
OEF
-OldElmerFudd (November 09, 2006, 03:58 AM)
--- End quote ---
Well, the dust has settled a bit. I still use most of the free software on installs for friends, but have abandoned ZA for all but my Luddite friends in favor of Online Armor. http://www.tallemu.com/
A little steep on the learning curve, but I'd rather be asked. I like it well enough to put it on a machine at home that's not on my static NAT. Also, I've dumped about everything but Spybot, SpySweeper, and ESET at home; less is more, IMHO!
OEF
Target:
another one that popped up this morning that I hadn't seen before
<a href="http://www.goldtach.com/index.htm"> GoldTach</a> claims to be a very small, very lightweight firewall. 2 versions (free + $)
a quick google doesn't bring up anything other than download locations, so nothing about it's performance or capabilities...
40hz:
You can find the results of a very good firewall challenge at the following link:
http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php
The site tested 33 products. Complete details of the testing criteria and scoring system are given along with recommendations. Links are provided to all products tested.
The complete test suite they used for the challenge is also available for download. Handy if you want to check up on a product they didn't cover:
http://www.matousec.com/projects/security-software-testing-suite/
Two free products made it into the top 5: Commodo and Online Armor.
Top 5 Protection Level Scores:
1. Outpost Firewall Pro 2009 6.5.2355.316.0597
2. Online Armor Personal Firewall 2.1.0.131
3. Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0.22.349 (free) :Thmbsup:
4. ProSecurity 1.43
5. Online Armor Personal Firewall 2.1.0.131 (Free) :Thmbsup:
cthorpe:
You can find the results of a very good firewall challenge at the following link:
-40hz (July 24, 2008, 09:32 PM)
--- End quote ---
That set of tests and the results posted are misleading. What matousec was testing there is if the firewall program prevents termination of its processes using various methods of shutting them down. Yes, it's important to make sure your firewall program is always running, but some would argue that its not the job of the firewall program to do that. In my opinion, the firewalls that have branched out into HIPS functions like process termination protection can be more trouble than they are worth as they have to dig themselves so deep into the OS to provide those functions.
C
PhilB66:
Matousec have affiliate agreements with some of the vendors. :down:
Here's a link to another leak / kill tester service (not updated in a while though):
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/termination.php
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