ThePreacher> Good point. Best firewall is to set up a nix box between you and the outside world. Well, not the best, because CPFW-1 is better, but definatly the best for anyone that isn't rich.

GuardianAngel> You made some very good points, but you forgot one very very important point also. A firewall doesn't work for crap if you don't set it up properly. If I accidently allow the wrong outbout connection, the trojan is still gonna connect. The firewall can give you a false sence of security. I have seen copies of zone alarm installed on computers where the user gave sub 7 access to the internet, then couldn't figure out what was going on with their machine.

It's like the whole "stealth mode" crap that grc has been preaching. I don't care if you computer operates in stealth mode. If someone wants in, they will get in.

Most people in here would die of laughter if you ever saw the security I use on my personal computer. I have an antivirus....thats it. I don't run any firewall, I haven't done 90% or the security updates, and I haven't had a problem with it yet. I figure if someone wants to hack me, let em. I dl programs just to see what they do. I have intentionally run virii on it to see how they work. etc etc. Oh yeah, I have norton ghost with a backup of my system on cd, so its only about an hour to redo it. Remeber, this is my personal computer, not my work system.

As they say, the BIGGEST weakness in any security system is the enduser. I don't even worry about the rest. As long as I know what caused something to happen, then I can make sure it doesn't happen again.