firewall

[rekcuf]

Tiny Personal Firewall for windows www.tinysoftware.com it´s very good..that´s what i use and i have already tryed the black ice and i prefer this one..
it´s a good "free" one..

stay well..

[Alcatraz]

I use ZoneAlarm. Also free. Also very good.

[Cyberlord]

I use zonealarm too.
Pretty good so far.

[stflook]

This has been posted about 1,000,000 times before, so this would make about 1,000,001, but I guess I can say this again.


ZoneAlarm: I like this firewall for its ease of use. The fact that it puts unused ports into "stealth" mode is also a wonderful feature. I also like its ability to engage its internet "lock", or cut off all activity either manually or by a time limit. This is a great feature to protect an unattended box. Its interface is very user-friendly. Another feature that's nice about it is that it can bring up pop-up windows if it blocks some kind of traffic, so you know immediately if somebody is attacking you or if you need to change your configuration. It can also give information on the traffic it blocked so you can see if it was indeed an attack, and the severity of it. This firewall is great for beginners or people too lazy to take the time to configure a firewall properly.

Tiny: This firewall is good for its configurability. It allows you to set rules based on protocol, port, remote address, program, and direction of the traffic. ZoneAlarm only goes by program unless you get ZoneAlarm Pro, which isn't free. I also like the fact that it asks you about every single connection until you set a rule, while ZoneAlarm, once again, goes only by program. The only downside is that its interface isn't as user friendly as ZoneAlarm's. This firewall is good for intermediate to advanced users and/or those who just need more control than ZoneAlarm can provide.

Another good (but not free) firewall is BlackICE. Its basic configuration is easy for beginners; trusting, cautious, nervous, and paranoid. That's it. For the more advanced users (or those who need more control), there is custom rule setting which is very similar to that of Tiny. It has similar alert capabilities to ZoneAlarm, except that it uses audible alerts instead of pop-ups. It displays all your attacks and even shows right there how severe it was, and you can even get information on the attack and can block the intruder for a set amount of time, or forever. This one seems to combine the best of Tiny and ZoneAlarm. I would use separate trojan protection if I used this one, though.

[Conf1rm3d_K1ll]

Perhaps the topic of firewalls should be placed in the Newbie FAQ? Or is it already?