best firewall application?

[S.D.Willie]

is it zonealarm?? i just disconnected my linksys router so i dont have that built in firewall anymore. ive used zonealarm b4(pre router days) plus its free. i just wanted a few opinions because the last time i opened up a port in the dmz host with my router for napster reasons, some jerkoff attached himself to my pc somehow and sent me like 15 consecutive viruses. luckily norton picked them up immediately. thanx fer any input on this matter.

SD

[Chief]

Well, if you have enough money, I bought a old pint box with a nic and vid card and 32meg ram. Installed a 20 meg Linux program (downloaded) from Smoothwall.org. It is a firewall/router for my small LAN. As I type this and send it from one box, another is downloading the web browser mozilla for my linux box. Problem is that I only have a 56k connection and no hope for cable or anything in the future (Smoothwall will work with DSL). Just my 2cent worth.

[sharder8]

I've been extremly happy with my "Free" ZoneAlarm. All the testing still shows it's the one with the most bang for the buck! Even better since it's free.

BTW, there's suppose to be a new version out shortly, until then, 2.1.44 is the newest.

Harder

[By-tor & the Snow Dog]

What about Black Ice Defender? Heard some good things about it, and since we're "supposed" to have DSL here by the 26th, I'm definately going to have to have a firewall.

By-Tor

[Bsdboy]

I use Zonealarm Pro,I prefer Zonealarm to
BID.The regular version of Zonealarm is
hard to beat for the price.If you have a
network consider getting the pro version
it gives you more configuration options.

Bsdboy

[7Words]

anyone tried conseal pc firewall?
i saw somewhere that it got a higher rating than zonealarm. if i find the link ill post it.

[oksenior]

I've tried Conseal and others but ZaPro is my firewall. Set and go;no muss no fuss with rules and such. I don't have enough expertise and I am not willing to take time to learn.

oksr

[RobRich]

I don't believe any one firewall provides the "best" security for all of the varying types of usage. ZoneAlarm is defenitely a favorite, but even it has flaws. During initialization, the background scanning engine can be bypassed through a simple NMAP scan, thus providing a potential weak point for those interested in "maximum" security.

I personally use a dedicated server running WinRoute Pro for my home LAN. WinRoute offers true NAT filtering, plus a complete firewall package comparable to many mid-range hardware solutions. You will invest money to go this route (upto $100 for most small networks), but the provided security is well worth the price.

For my stand-alone desktop systems, I am currently using Conseal's PC Firewall. Conseal does provide superb security through efficient packet-level filtering. However, it lacks per-application rights configuration. I commonly use Conseal in "high-risk" dedicated connection scenarios, but only if the system is properly configured with a tight user rights management routine.

And finally, I use Sygate's Personal Firewall v4.0 for my notebook. I need the freedom and flexibility for a high level of per application network rights management, which SPF provides perfectly. Security through filtering remains decent, as I have been unable to bypass SPF through the use of "various software-based intrusion mechanisms" that are most commonly used by crackers and wannabe hackers.

Here is the worst part, a software (and even hardware) firewall creates a false sense of security. Hackers are commonly breaking high-security, multi-throusand dollar hardware firewall systems. Assuming these same people want access to your system (luckily most real hackers don't give a care about end-user systems), then does anyone actually believe a low-cost or free software firewall is actually going to provide an adaquete level of protection? Just something to think about.

Catch ya' later,
Robert Richmond