Firewalls

What is the best free firewall? I used to use zone alarm, but I heard there were major security risks with it. So from all your personal opionions what is the best "free" firewall there is?

Even if you used the best firewall there is, it's rendered useless unless you have it properly configured. IMO, the best freeware firewall for windowz is Agnitum Outpost. You can download it here: www.agnitum.com

I would agree with agnitum. Used it for a bit and like it better than most firewalls you have to pay for. Only down side is that it doesn't work with Win XP's internet connection sharing, so if you don't need that, I'd go with agnitum. Free version has a few less features than the pro, just look and see what you need.

RA said it best - you have to insure that whatever firewall you are running is configured properly. Everybody has their opinions on which is the best firewall, but you'll definitely get a lot of votes for Outpost. But on the other hand, there are a good number of people who really love Zone Alarm, and I've seen it recommended in some pc-related magazines in the past.

Not only configured properly, also updated regularly.
Keep track of security sources (the register/slashdot etc.) to remain posted on issues with the firewall you use.

I'd recommend using both a hardware firewall solution and a software firewall solution. This way, you can configure both of them to start filtering/blocking at both the network and application levels. For software, I'm using Zone Alarm. For hardware, if it ever friggin' gets here, is the SMC Barricade Plus Cable/DSL router (the SMC7004FW).

Personally, I have used zone alarm for a very long time, then while surfing around and checking different ports on various sites to make sure its working well, one stated that port 135 was posting as open and was a possible security threat. I then found Agnitum outpost firewall on the same site, downloaded it and wow!!!! Not only did it completly close port 135 that za had open, but further configuration also blocked ad's, and was able to better observe network traffic on my simple dialup. I would strongly choose outpost over za for a free firewall.

*nix

sygates another good one

I got the new zonalarm pro3.0 and it is not that bad, it just takes ages to load even on a fast pc, it is better than the old version, because you can block ads and pop-ups, which really get on my nerves

i would definetly recomend agnitum outpost it haz a lot of plugins updates etc and its simple 2 configure and blocks a lot of attacks and tells u what attacks r being sent 2 u r box it really is a good software firewall ZA is ok i guess but agnitum is really good and stable if r thinking about changing firewalls u should definetly give agnitum outpost a try

another decent free one is Tiny Personal Firewall, tough im a recent Outpost convert as well, esp with the logging and ad-blocking.

hmmm i have never heard of outpost, but i am very interested and am downloading it as i type this..thanks for the link remote_access. it sounds pretty badass

Well, you could probably buy some crappy 486 for less than $100 and make a hardware firewall buy putting a *nix distro on it and customizing a firewall. I have heard a lot about OpenBSD being used like this. This option is cheap and very stable, I reccomend you look into it.

And I use a minimum installation of mandrake on and old 486 that my sister got. It isn't worth much, less than $100. And my firewall is loaded onto a floppy disk that is put in to the 486 at boot. The floppy loads and thus the hardware firewall that protects my computer.

Firewalls for windows. What an oxymoron.

As a typical internet user with windows 98, one wouldn't have the need for a firewall or packet filtering software of some kind. Sure, you might have a couple DoS's coming your way, but only because you most likely deserved through your actions.

Angrybob has it right. (Most of the *nix o/s's ship with packet filtering software)

sorry about my post...i had two screens open and wrote on the wrong one. and i got hammered for it so i learned my lesson about paying more attention. incidently i like blackice because its not as obnoxious as zonealarm.

Thank you for all the wonderfull replies. So far I really like "outpost" however some of you talk about properly configuring the firewall, and what do you mean by that? How can you properly configure it so its more effective?

Thanks,
Insane

As for configuring...I'm not too sure about Outpost because I've never used it but I personally go by the "deny-all" method of firewalling. That is to block all incoming traffic and start from there. If there is a certain service that needs access to your machine than allow only that service and start from there. Also allow only certain programs and services access to the outside world so as to make your presence on the net not as loud. Outpost's site has a downloadable manual in .pdf format, I'd start there for instructions on how to configure your firewall. Not sure but it might come with some security levels with matching firewall rules for you to choose from. Again, not speaking from experience with Outpost. Hope this helps.

-the eeshman