Can anybody recommend a best firewall?

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bigtiger · #1 Post by **bigtiger** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:35 pm

I use Zone Alarm free for quite long. But it seems that ZA will cause constant HD access for my X41. I would like to find alternative firewall which has less HD access.

Thanks.

christopher_wolf · #2 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:38 pm

bigtiger wrote:I use Zone Alarm free for quite long. But it seems that ZA will cause constant HD access for my X41. I would like to find alternative firewall which has less HD access.

Thanks.

I can recommend Kerio as a very good and low profile/low resource footprint firewall.

bigtiger · #3 Post by **bigtiger** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:46 pm

Thank you very much, Mod.

I just did a research. There are two versions. Which version do you use? I do not mind paying. But sometime, a full version with bloated feature keeps me away.

christopher_wolf · #4 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:55 pm

bigtiger wrote:Thank you very much, Mod.

I just did a research. There are two versions. Which version do you use? I do not mind paying. But sometime, a full version with bloated feature keeps me away.

I use the personal firewall edition and it is nowhere near as bloated as I have seen others. You can download the trial if you like and try it out for awhile.

bigtiger · #5 Post by **bigtiger** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:08 pm

Installed and running now on X40.

Yeah,

my HD is making less noise. I probably will stick with this firewall from now. It is time to dump ZAlarm.

I saw processes:
kpf4gui.exe /system
kpf4gui.exe /under username
kpf4ss.exe /system.

is it normal? that is over 20M memory space.

christopher_wolf · #6 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:13 pm

bigtiger wrote:Installed and running now on X40.

Yeah, my HD is making less noise. I probably will stick this firewall from now. It is time to dump ZAlarm.

I saw processes:
kpf4gui.exe /system
kpf4gui.exe /under username
kpf4ss.exe /system.

is it normal? that is over 20M memory space.

That is normal for Kerio, but I have been running it 24/7 and have yet to see that ballon to something like 55MB or larger as I have seen other things (especially Firefox, which just loves all the memory it can get) do. So there are no leaks in it to my knowledge.

bigtiger · #7 Post by **bigtiger** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:18 pm

Thank you, TWO thumbs up. Fanstastic product. I can bear with 20M.

The rules are a little bit different from ZA but pretty intuitive.

dsigma6 · #8 Post by **dsigma6** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:25 pm

is kerio really that good, or is it just not bad? i use comodo personal firewall and its using about 40mb. something like this, you get used to it and how it works and are nervous about trying something new.

guess if its not giving me any trouble and protecting well, ill keep it. notifies me anytime something is trying to modify or run something.

#9 Post by **GomJabbar** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:50 pm

Here is another mod that uses Kerio. My cellular connection was giving me problems with ZA. No problems with Kerio. I think it is a very good firewall

pphilipko · #10 Post by **pphilipko** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:41 pm

Well, I use pc-cillin 2006, and I've had no problems for the last two years.

Best of all, it only utilizes 24 mb of resources for the entire suite, both the anti virus and the firewall. There's a 30 day trial: once you get it, you can't go back!

Hmmm, I sound like a salesman..

Sable_X31 · #11 Post by **Sable_X31** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:45 pm

I've been using Kerio for 2 or 3 years now. While I think it actually does have a little extra bloat attached to the GUI (and it always throws an error when I'm shutting down), I appreciate the Application Behavior Blocking feature. While it does get annoying sometimes when I'm trying to install a new program that's been poorly slapped together, most of the time I like knowing when one program is calling another and having the option to deny it. It helps keep certain arrogant programs in line with what I'm willing to grant them.
I very recently tried the trial version of Kapersky based on all the positive reviews I'd heard (and residual belief that KPF was a little more bloated than I liked), but I found that it conflicted with the IBM security software when coming back out of a screensaver. So, back to Kerio.

bigtiger · #12 Post by **bigtiger** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:54 pm

I have to admit that Kerio is more detailed than ZA.

ZA has a tendency that once it grants some rights to a program, it then will allow all rights to that program, even when that program tries to trigger another program.

KPF, however, will do that case by case. It only grants right to a specific program. That right is not "transferrable". A good thing? Bad thing?

Well, some might find it is annoying. To me it is good. Now more and more softwares try to bundle spam softwares, KPF's way will help us fight againest those softwares.

w0qj · #13 Post by **w0qj** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:36 am

There's another freeware firewall is:
Works basically same as ZA, so it is not intrusive!

Comodo freeware firewall
http://www.comodogroup.com/

It tells you a lot more about what's happening behind the scenes, a a bit more control.

PC Magazine gave it 4.5 out of 5
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1969207,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1969225,00.asp

dsigma6 · #14 Post by **dsigma6** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:58 am

w0qj- I just posted that!

is kerio really that good, or is it just not bad? i use comodo personal firewall and its using about 40mb. something like this, you get used to it and how it works and are nervous about trying something new.

DIGITALgimpus · #15 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 9:26 am

I'll give a vote for Kerio, after reviewing many it's by far the best IMHO, not bloated but still has a fair amount of options.

It's also on sale right now:
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm

Puppy · #16 Post by **Puppy** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 10:56 am

The only reliable firewall is a hardware one. You can not trust any software running on the same machine which is supposed to protect.

dsigma6 · #17 Post by **dsigma6** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:45 am

The only reliable firewall is a hardware one

...

i couldn't disagree with you more. hardware has its purpose, but software clearly has advantages.

DIGITALgimpus · #18 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:15 pm

Puppy wrote:The only reliable firewall is a hardware one. You can not trust any software running on the same machine which is supposed to protect.

There is no inherent advantage to a true hardware firewall (it can also be poorly designed).

A good software firewall is kernel level. So an exploit would be somewhat tough... and something close would likely cause a kernel panic before a breach.

There are some excessively poor hardware firewalls out there, and cost for good ones is often quite high. Software is by far more practical for a general user. If you have a entire network to protect or need extra security, it's then worth while.

But to insist hardware is the only way to go is bogus statement. Most of these cheap WiFi Routers/Firewalls are nothing more than a basic NAT device. A couple add the magic of SPI. Very few have serious packet filtering capabilities that are useful.

Also remember that computers inside a network (behind the hardware firewall) can infect each other. Therefore, unless you have a strong security policy on all systems, a software firewall is still needed to contain any problems within your network.

#19 Post by **bill bolton** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 5:51 pm

Puppy wrote:The only reliable firewall is a hardware one.

Carrying around fire rated cinder blocks with a laptop is a bit of a downer though!

Cheers,

Bill

#20 Post by **KristianJ** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:18 pm

w0qj wrote:There's another freeware firewall is:
Works basically same as ZA, so it is not intrusive!

Comodo freeware firewall
http://www.comodogroup.com/

It tells you a lot more about what's happening behind the scenes, a a bit more control.

PC Magazine gave it 4.5 out of 5
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1969207,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1969225,00.asp

I might give that a try...does anyone use their antivirus as well and would recommend it, since I'm always open to trying different solutions.

bigtiger · #21 Post by **bigtiger** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:30 pm

Thanks, I will give commodo a try too. But I see it offers logging. Logging might cause HD to spin too much though.

w0qj · #22 Post by **w0qj** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:25 am

A good freeware antivirus program is AVAST.
Small memory footprint, doesn't get in the way...

www.avast.com

kstuart · #23 Post by **kstuart** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:12 am

One vote for the Sygate Personal Firewall Free Final Version - at:

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Sy ... 30643506/1

Torque · #24 Post by **Torque** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:43 am

I've always been a fan of Sygate.

DIGITALgimpus · #25 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 1:47 pm

Sygate has been discontinued (since it's been bought and integrated into Symantec) and has known issues (security holes). I'd be a little hestitant running it these days. I ran it for years, and considered it one of the best of it's time... a shame they didn't keep it up.

bigtiger · #26 Post by **bigtiger** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:07 pm

w0qj wrote:A good freeware antivirus program is AVAST.
Small memory footprint, doesn't get in the way...

www.avast.com

how does avast compared to AVG Free? I have been using AVG for quite a while. So far So good.

w0qj · #27 Post by **w0qj** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:00 am

bigtiger wrote:
w0qj wrote:A good freeware antivirus program is AVAST.
Small memory footprint, doesn't get in the way...

www.avast.com
how does avast compared to AVG Free? I have been using AVG for quite a while. So far So good.

It's a matter of taste/style... my brother used AVG Free & OK.

I use AVAST free, mainly because you can right-click file/folder(s), ask it to scan, and after finishing the scan, it will NOT bother you with a alert box that there's no virus, press OK to continue...
(of course, if there IS a virus, then it would give you an alert Window).

Never had any virus since using it 4+ years now.

mattfromomaha · #28 Post by **mattfromomaha** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:57 pm

Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall stinks. Slows down my browsing to feel like I'm on dial-up...

#29 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:06 pm

mattfromomaha wrote:Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall stinks. Slows down my browsing to feel like I'm on dial-up...

My experience is different. I like Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall 4. Anyone can download a free 30-day trial to find out for themselves.

DIGITALgimpus · #30 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:07 am

I've found sunbelt has no impact on my performance at all. Unlike Sygate used to.

Can anybody recommend a best firewall?

Can anybody recommend a best firewall?

Re: Can anybody recommend a best firewall?

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