Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites in Security

Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites in Security http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20473236 en Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:57:53 EDT Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:57:53 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20500613 The Snowman :

giannis..., you ended your comment with a question mark.......are you asking if windows firewall is better...or stating that its better ?
The Windows Firewall blocks in-coming connections, however , it has no outbound controls. Outbound controls can play a highly important role.....alerting the Users of installed trojans , viruses , Worms , etc., or just your everyday malware calling home .
No , the Windows Firewall is not a bad firewall for blocking in-coming connections....it does it's job in that respect...but its just not a complete firewall. Firewalls have vastly improved since Windows Xp firewall first came out.....un-fortunately , the Windows Firewall has not improved over the years...it's the same old same old. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20500613 Sun, 18 May 2008 03:34:28 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20500469 anon : the dafault firewall of windows is better than other firewalls?»i.dslr.net/v2/lite/grey/emotionless.gif]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20500469 Sun, 18 May 2008 01:59:54 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20484394 Its a Secret : EG, I agree. A router is mandatory gear this days as is a soft FW. If one fails, the other is there for BU. Together, a strong defense on the web.
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A triple espresso, please...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20484394 Wed, 14 May 2008 22:28:36 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20481299 EGeezer : One can get by with the Windows XP firewall, but its application monitoring application features are somewhat lacking. The software firewalls mentioned by the other folks are more robust in this area than the XP firewall.

Many people, including me and my customers, have software firewalls on the PCs as well as hardware firewalls to protect the perimeter network, even if there is only one PC.

My reasoning behind this is twofold;

First, the router/firewall offloads the inbound blocking and logging workload from the PC(s) they serve. It also allows the user to use the software firewall's logging features to log or notify of local events without inundating them with voluminous log entries of internet noise.

Second, I found evidence a long time back (see »Re: firewall shutdown when updating ? ) that software firewalls may shut down when they are updating themselves. With an inexpensive router/firewall, the PC is still protected from unsolicited inbound connection attempts like those mysec

posted. More discussion at »firewall shutdown when updating ?

As you can see by the topic dates, this was four years ago. As far as I know, ZA didn't subsequently answer the question, nor do vendors clearly indicate whether or not their products leave the PC connected without protection during their self-updates.
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Mayors of New York come from nowhere and go nowhere.
Wallace Sayre (apparently, so do governors... )]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20481299 Wed, 14 May 2008 13:10:33 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20480936 ZZZZZZZ : Another vote for OA...great firewall .]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20480936 Wed, 14 May 2008 12:03:32 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20479964 ltsnow :

said by Bubba1

said by Dominick :

I chose Comodo, It also has a built in defense.

And, should you and Comodo not find happiness, I really like Online Armor »www.tallemu.com/ . Their free offering is excellent, as is Comodo.

Thanks for that. I'm trying it out and it seems quite good.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20479964 Wed, 14 May 2008 08:37:01 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20479541 KoRnGtL15 : For sure! I have a router and still use a software firewall. My top 3 freebies for firewalls are Online Armor, Comodo and ZoneAlarm. ZA and OA being the easiest to configure and for get. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20479541 Wed, 14 May 2008 04:11:22 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20478593 Bubba1 :

said by poppster

:

Tallemu has a really good product however.

:) .. yep. Fact is, the whole operation is top-notch.

Someone using/liking their free offering, while investing some forum time and seeing the level of product support being provided, just might not be able to resist buying a license!

I couldn't. ;)
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"Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything" --Wyatt Earp]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20478593 Tue, 13 May 2008 22:44:52 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20478392 poppster :

said by Dominick :

Is online armor "Free verson" any good

Does it compare?

I am not sure

I think they said the paid version is better

While the paid version offers a few more tools, the free version is just as reliable as Comodo. Both score 100% in various leak tests from Matousec.com.

But I feel being behind a NAT router with a built in firewall is enough for me however. Tallemu has a really good product however.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20478392 Tue, 13 May 2008 22:12:46 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20478192 anon : Is online armor "Free verson" any good

Does it compare?

I am not sure

I think they said the paid version is better]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20478192 Tue, 13 May 2008 21:33:11 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20474700 Bubba1 :

said by Dominick :

I chose Comodo, It also has a built in defense.

And, should you and Comodo not find happiness, I really like Online Armor »www.tallemu.com/ . Their free offering is excellent, as is Comodo.
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"Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything" --Wyatt Earp]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20474700 Tue, 13 May 2008 10:41:41 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20474541 anon : Alright guys and gals

I've done some reading and i now decided that i will use a firewall with HIPS

I chose Comodo, It also has a built in defense. The defense...It's like HIPS correct?

Thanks for all the help

Oh yes! Evil is lurking around every single corner, How unfortunate]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20474541 Tue, 13 May 2008 10:07:04 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473774 DownTheShore :

said by Dominick :

Is it necessary to install and configure a firewall?

Because i am only going to browse trusted sites and do some online gaming

And not going to download any unknown .exe

There is evil lurking everywhere..... :o ;) :D
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Life is simply one damned thing after another.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473774 Tue, 13 May 2008 03:16:42 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473645 anon :

LoL....well I am not going to provide a Link because it appears that the website was hacked.....so instead will just post what I could still copy from the site:

___________________________________

"The majority of home PCs are running some form of Windows-based platform and it is important for them to know that the moment they connect to the Internet, they are almost immediately under some form of Internet attack," said Marcus Colombano, partner at Avantgarde and co-investigator of this experiment. "Windows XP Service Pack 1 with ZoneAlarm was the most secure machine out of all the Windows-based systems tested due to its ability to stealth a computer while online and block unauthorized access. In addition, this third-party firewall contains an important feature that asks users for permission when a program attempts to access the Internet, a feature not included in Windows XP Service Pack 2."

"This experiment underscores the need for consumers to have a personal firewall enabled every time they go online because of automated attacks that are consistently launched on the Internet," said Kevin Mitnick, co-investigator and founder of Mitnick Security Consulting LLC, a security consulting firm. "Owners of Microsoft's Service Pack 2 already have an integrated inbound firewall but to be adequately protected, a personal firewall with inbound and outbound traffic blocking capabilities is essential. This capability can be found in several third-party firewall products, some of which are free and publicly available. If computer users fail to install a firewall onto their home PC, it's just a matter of time before they get hacked."

Malware such as spyware, worms and Trojan horses, can be transferred through e-mail, instant messages, peer-to-peer programs and routine Web browsing. Once loaded onto a computer, these threats have the ability to monitor a user's online activities, capture keystrokes to steal credit card numbers, financial data, usernames and passwords, and communicate this information back to a hacker.

____________________________

This apears to be somewhat outdated .]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473645 Tue, 13 May 2008 02:08:39 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473587 The Snowman :

DOM, hi,

It is Highly suggested that if you are not going to use the built-in XP firewall that you should install another firewall........I just read an article yesterday stating than on average a computer without a firewall gets hacked in under four minutes.......according to the article.

To configure a firewall is not really difficult these days......its mostly done automatically depending on the firewall you install......I have seen some good reviews of Online Armor (freeware version) so maybe you should see if it meets your needs.

The XP firewall will protect the computer....but has no outbound notifications. Its definitely better than nothing.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473587 Tue, 13 May 2008 01:43:55 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473579 mysec : ________________________________________________________________

It depends. Trusted sites don't mean much. Just being connected to the internet makes you a target.

If you can insure that all ports are closed, and system patches uptodate, then *maybe* not necessary. I've tested this way successfully on my win2k system, but wouldn't recommend it in most situations. Too many uncertainties with Services, etc.

Consider this set of common probes (above screenshot) from a short time ago on my system:

the normal trojan ports
messenger ports
VNC port
SQL Slammer

said by Dominick :

And not going to download any unknown .exe

A firewall would not help here.

Probes

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473579 Tue, 13 May 2008 01:41:21 EDT Re: Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473284 redwolfe_98 : imo, if you are running windows xp, yes, you should have a firewall running before connecting to the internet..

if you have win xpsp2 installed, the "windows firewall" should be running, by default..

if you have all of the updates for win xpsp2, from microsoft's "windows updates" website, then your computer would not be as vulnerable as it would have been without the updates..

i am not familiar with "vista" and any vulnerablities that it might have, but i would still use a firewall..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473284 Mon, 12 May 2008 23:58:36 EDT Firewall a necessity for newly install winxp + Trusted sites http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473236 anon : Is it necessary to install and configure a firewall?

Because i am only going to browse trusted sites and do some online gaming

And not going to download any unknown .exe]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,20473236 Mon, 12 May 2008 23:41:08 EDT