Firewalls

[Pshawn5]

I know this has been kicked around alot on other forums,but I want your guys' expert opinions..

if you could choose a software firewall which would you choose and why??

right now i'm using sygate pro firewall,but for some reason it wont let me go to freaky ocr's shoutcast stream even if i give it access to the net...but as soon as i shut down the firewall, the stream comes in...but anyways...

What's your choice?

[jadison]

Personally,
I use Norton Internet Security 2001, Zone Alarm (latest), and Sygate Personal Firewall (free d/l copy) all on my main system. I have direct access to the net via always-on connection, so I figured that 3 software firewalls is better than just one.

Norton Internet Security 2k1: I like it because of several reasons. One being the feature to restrict certain kinds of content being run on you machine or stored their: ie. Cookies, ActiveX controls, etc. Also, it has features that are an extension of those offered by IE6 such as Zone Control, and Website restrictions. I also use their AdBlock feature which in the past few days has blocked over 1,000 ads/pop-ups...A very great feature that seems to only come with Opera browser and a few other 3rd party apps. on the net.

Zone Alarm: I've been using this software since it came out, and when I was on a measly 28K connection. When I became aware of the site www.grc.com, and found out that my compute was wide open...I followed their link to d/l ZA. This Firewall is great...nothing bad to say about their free version, and it's worked on all of the systems running it. Unfortunately, it took me a few hours to find out why I couldn't get files sent to me through ICQ, and I had to go through all 3 FW's before I found out that it was ZA, and then I had to do some tweaking i ZA so I could receive files via ICQ. It's a unique FW, and should be on everyones list of software to d/l and own!

Sygate Personal Firewall: I just recently downloaded their free version just about a week ago, more as a backup to the other two I have. I'm not familiar with most of the features, but so far it works fine, and has posed no conflicts.

To anyone out there whether you're broadband or dialup, I recommend you have atleast one firewall running on your system.

Here are links to download the 3 firewalls I mentioned (Norton's Internet Security is a free trial version 2002, ZA is the regular version free, and Sygate's is a home version for free.)::

Sygate Personal Firewall (http://www.sygate.com/swat/free/default.php)

Zone Alarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/zlpromo/za_pestpatrol_link.htm)

Norton Internet Security 2002 (http://nct1.digitalriver.com/fulfill/0001.3)

Stay as secure as possible...you can't be totally secure from hacker attacks, but you can make it harder than hell for them to try to get into your system!!!

[Herb]

I use ZA free version and Opera6 beta1022 which supports now extensive PAC configuration files just fine.

Also a huge host file is in place.

In addition I run an older version of the eDexter server, which replaces all blocked stuff to localhost with nice pics of your choice randomly:D

Frequently I run AdAware, but never encountered anything anymore since it ran the first time over a year ago.

[Pshawn5]

so could i have norton internet security and Sygate firewall running on the same comp at the same time?

double the protection?

[jadison]

Yes, you can. Like I stated above, I have 3 software firewalls running all at the same time.
All of them pretty much cover my online security needs for now.
I suggest that you have more than one firewall running, and atleast an AV scanner running all @ the same time.

[jadison]

I didn't mention another useful and popular firewall, that I know most you probably already know. That would be Tiny Personal Firewall.

"This handy application gives you some control in determining how your applications transmit to the Web and receive data from it. The program offers high, medium, and low security levels. If you're not sure which to choose, don't worry: The program can operate in learning mode, letting you decide whether to deny or accept data in each situation. You can then establish rules to determine how you want to deal with similar situations in the future.

This utility can check for digital signatures, and it can restrict applications to certain ports or destination IP addresses. You can also create reports of all intrusion attempts."

You can find this and other firewalls and security programs in our XtremePcCentral Downloads Section HERE (http://www.xtremepccentral.com/download.php)