zone alarm

[mdjones]

I have used free zonealarm myself and found it very easy to use, but wasn`t sure whether to trust it???
I have also used Tiny personal firewall, I found that more awkward to get used to, but did find it very good.
I am using Sygate at the moment, but I`m still not sure which is the best one for me???
I`m going to try the Kerio one next, just for my own peace of mind...........
Cheers ppl...

[pooh sun tzu]

It still comes down to one thing for me:

Zone alarm and Kerio do the EXACT same things and features, but Kerio also offers the side feature of a built in IDS. So, in respect, both are nearly identical. Our of respect, Kerio is easier for a new user since it is more secure out of hte box in configuration, and is still free.

ZA = same features as kerio, but no IDS, costs money
Kerio = same features as ZA, but has the IDs, and is free


Kind of a non issue Similar to saying, "You can choose between the Big Mac for $25.00, or the other Big Mac with fries for free"

[Tiger Shark]

Actually, which is better is really irrelevant. Anything you can put between your non-technical friends and the skiddies/worms out there that slows or stops them is a good thing. The free ZA, kerio etc. etc. etc. are all better than a wide open box. The hardest part is convincing them that they need _something_. Once that's done the decision as to what to put there is academic.

[Nokia]

There is a very good magazine in the UK called Computer Shopper www.computershopper.co.uk in this month they reviewed 10 firewalls zone alarm 4 and black ice included. They set a small network up and ran several exploits/attacks against the machines running the various fire walls. You can read the whole article on their site. in brief this is what they said about ZoneAlarm Pro 4 and Black ice

Zone Labs is best known for its free firewall and application control software, ZoneAlarm. The Professional version is the same program with some extras. If you're used to the free version, upgrading will be painless and you should be able to get to grips with the new advert blocker, web cache cleaner and mail attachment scanner quickly.

The intrusion detection engine is effective. It detected the Windows file sharing attack, which shows that it does check data rather than simply allowing or denying it based on its port number.

Setting up the web server was relatively easy although, like the Norton firewall, it exposed the FTP and SMTP ports. Luckily, the application control rules are very easy to use. Each application has two sets of these rules: one for connecting to the internet and one for incoming connections. If you want to learn about firewall rules this is a good place to start.

However, it is expensive; the annual update price is around £11. Potential buyers should consider whether they need the extra features. Ad blocking is available with free software such as Google's toolbar and data privacy features aren't number one on our list of must-haves. When you strip out these extras you're left with the free ZoneAlarm, which we'd recommend if you can't afford the F-Secure or ISS firewalls.

ISS BlackICE PC Protection 3.6

ISS, best known for its enterprise-level intrusion detection system, also produces a cracking desktop version. BlackICE PC Protection detected every attack we threw at it, including web-based ones. Because it has a blocking facility, you can drop all the traffic that comes from an attacker once he starts scanning you or launching any attacks. This can be deactivated for individual addresses, which is particularly useful when you're testing your firewall rules.

It recognised and logged our DoS attack but it couldn't prevent the PC from slowing down, even with a setting that should block all network traffic. All the firewalls reviewed had the same problem. Allowing people on the internet to access the web server was tricky, and involved manually creating a rule to allow incoming traffic on port 80. Anyone with a bit of personal firewall experience won't have a problem, but beginners could be stumped.

BlackICE has a serious module for controlling which applications can and cannot access the internet. It's designed to detect when an attacker has managed to subvert legitimate programs such as Internet Explorer. It works by scanning all your files, which it assumes are in good shape, and storing their details in a database. Any changes will show up, and the Application Protection system will prevent an altered program from running or accessing the network. In earlier versions, this became tedious if you regularly updated your software or installed new programs because you needed to re-run the scanner after every change you made. With this latest version, an install mode adds the updated files to the database automatically.

Considering it lacks most of the extras offered by the other packages here, BlackICE PC Protection looks quite expensive. But combined with a good anti-virus package such as Kaspersky Personal 4.5 (£28 inc VAT and £20 inc VAT for second-year updates) you're looking at a top-performing combination that costs £63 for the first year and £38 a year thereafter.

[skiddieleet]

Oops, didn't mean to start a sorta *which OS is better* for firewalls type thing.
I used the free one when I did use ZoneAlarm, just set it to medium. The part I liked about it was the trusted zone feature, which made it very easy to let locally networked computers have higher access than computers from the internet. I really don't do that many custom rules and right now I really don't use a software firewall cause I have a router with built-in firewall. I do have sygate installed on one computer, but most of the time I disable it. Sygate was just a little harder to get to allow all my networks computers to be networked but not much. I really like them all I guess. Which you choose is just a matter of opinion and preference.

[MrCoffee]

Just curious...

But how did "what is arp protection?" become "My Firewall is better your firewall" ?!

Pooh is right, it is a prefectly valid question, even if you don't like the product he is working with.

$.02 worth.

[disturb]

thanks guys thanks thanks thanks

you guys are helpfull



ps that guy always nags me

[darkes]

If you are looking for a good personal software firewall (which includes IDS), then sygate pro came out tops in a recent survey from Germany.

This link http://www.testticker.de/testticker/...Ref=testticker gives the details, although it is in German

Basically what it said was that this was the only software firewall to pass all 23 tests, and was far superior to Kerio, which didn't even make the top 5

[pooh sun tzu]

My kerio passed all 23 tests, so those tests are fake. And since the tests were also held by Sygate, I have no doubt it is bias.

< sarcasim> Also glad sysgate pro is Free, since it does the same thing as every other firewall. < /sarcasim>

[darkes]

Originally posted here by pooh sun tzu
My kerio passed all 23 tests, so those tests are fake. And since the tests were also held by Sygate, I have no doubt it is bias.

< sarcasim> Also glad sysgate pro is Free, since it does the same thing as every other firewall. < /sarcasim>

Have you read the article? Can you read German?

Kerio did not pass the 23 tests. You can argue that the tests might be biased, but afaik it was not sponsored by Sygate.

Kerio as a free firewall is OK to moderate, but if you want to pay for something then Sygate pro is looking like a good bet.

Perhaps you could tell me exactly what 23 tests you carried out?

I'm finding some of your posts very irritating & misleading, as I don't think you know what you are talking about most of the time.