Outpost Firewall Pro 3.5 is coming this week

[Chubb]

Dear all,

Quote from a newsletter from Agnitum received today:

"Outpost Firewall Pro 3.5 will be released during the first week of February 2006".

But there is no mention of a 64-bit version. :(

[Carver]

Maybe it will be like NOD32s version 2.51.20, and be for 32bit/64bit. Anyway I am looking forward to what Agnitum has for me.

[NAMOR]

Is there a changelog anywhere?

[hollywoodpc]

In the beta , well , I will just say that the startup/shutdown issue should be rectified in 3.5 .
Enjoy

[NAMOR]

{QUOTE-> In the beta , well , I will just say that the startup/shutdown issue should be rectified in 3.5 .
Enjoy <-QUOTE}

thanks hollywoodpc...

[FanJ]

Quotes from the Agnitum Newsletter :


Product Update: Outpost Firewall Pro 3.5

We’ve got exciting news for you: the latest and greatest version of Outpost Firewall Pro will ship next week!

As we reported in our December newsletter, the new version will deliver higher protection levels thanks to closer integration of the anti-spyware plug-in with the firewall engine, plus the brand-new ImproveNet which will help to automate application protection, eliminating many of dialog windows you currently see when applications try to access the Internet.

ImproveNet is a network community that brings Outpost users and Agnitum engineers together to share configurations and enable everyone to benefit from universally-applicable Internet access security rules. By participating in the ImproveNet service, users can adjust their application access rules to protect against the latest threats. These settings are created, transferred and applied automatically, so that users no longer need to worry about how to respond to the next action prompt window – because ImproveNet adjustments mean that the window won’t appear in the first place!

Participation in the ImproveNet community is optional - you can turn it off with a single mouse click if for any reason you don’t want to get involved. However, we encourage you to try out ImproveNet and see for yourself how much more efficient (and silent!) your firewall will be.

Outpost Firewall Pro 3.5 will be released during the first week of February 2006. All users with a current maintenance subscription will receive the upgrade automatically at no charge as part of the normal update process. If your maintenance subscription has expires, please go to http://www.agnitum.com/purchase/purchase_renewal.php to renew your subscription.

[hollywoodpc]

{QUOTE-> thanks hollywoodpc... <-QUOTE}
;) ;) Enjoy

[G1111]

Received an alert from Agnitum that it is now available, but don't see it on the website.

[hollywoodpc]

I do not think it is yet available . And I suspect there may even be a delay in launch . Only my opinion but , I am not quite sure this 3.5 will be up to par . I hope I am wrong but , time will certainly tell .

[Carver]

I thought it was supposed to be the first week in February.

[hollywoodpc]

Carver !!!!
Read post # 9 !

[QBgreen]

Ready for download. What's new? Have a look: http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/

[flyrfan111]

It was released this morning. No problems so far. You have to d/l it as update doesn't pick it up and won't for a week or so to minimize taxing the servers.

[Carver]

Instillation went smooth.

[Paranoid2000]

Those interested in 3.5 may wish to review the Outpost forum thread Outpost 3.5 - What to expect (http://outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16493) - there are issues that may merit consideration before trying an upgrade.

[Get]

@Paranoid2000: Pfff, just talked someone into trialling Outpost, because it's easy to use AND configurable and now this :-\ . How do you rate the chances Agnitum will reconsider and make rules modifyable again? btw it would be great if they gave options when installing...Unmodifyable encrypted rules...press A...Normal youtakethesteeringwheel-rules...press B....I don't care ,whatever...press Cancel.

[dylanfan]

Hi everybody ;)

I've been a long time fan of Outpost, and am glad the new version is finally released.

I went to http://outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?p=117994#post117994 to see what to expect, and I'd like to know one or two things:

"Agnitum invites you to join the ImproveNet program to improve the quality, security and control features of Outpost Firewall Pro even more! With your consent"..... How's this invite done? By activating a plug in? Or does it pop up regularly?

"Outpost Firewall Pro will collect anonymous information about network-enabled applications on your computer to be used to expand the existing database of known applications so we can make many more automatic access rules available to users"..... Ouch, I don't like that one... Is there any easy way for Outpost users to prevent this if so they wish?

"Outpost Firewall Pro 3.5 now also features an automatic distribution and update of new rules. After a new access rule has been created based on information from Agnitum's ImproveNet program, it is automatically shared with other Outpost Firewall Pro users via Agnitum Update to reduce the number of product prompts".... Ouchh again... I just don't like things going on without the user specifically requiring it, especially in a soft which is supposed to increase users's control over what's going on on one's machine...

What are your thoughts on all this? It kind of puts me at unease.

Thanks

[Paranoid2000]

{QUOTE-> How do you rate the changes Agnitum will reconsider and make rules modifyable again? btw it would be great if they gave options when installing...Unmodifyable encrypted rules...press A...Normal youtakethesteeringwheel-rules...press B....I don't care ,whatever...press Cancel. <-QUOTE}Outpost rules themselves are still modifiable, it is the presets that are not. This is more of a concern for advanced users that benefit from creating their own presets and for those who use presets supplied by others for complex rules (e.g. GameSpy). Unfortunately, one specific case is the ability to tighten up DNS access which really does need a preset rule to be practicable. Those using this option should consider avoiding 3.5 until Agnitum reinstate user-modifiable presets.{QUOTE-> "Agnitum invites you to join the ImproveNet program to improve the quality, security and control features of Outpost Firewall Pro even more! With your consent"..... How's this invite done? By activating a plug in? Or does it pop up regularly? <-QUOTE}ImproveNet is offered as an option on initial configuration and can be enabled/disabled thereafter via Help/Agnitum ImproveNet...{QUOTE-> "Outpost Firewall Pro 3.5 now also features an automatic distribution and update of new rules. After a new access rule has been created based on information from Agnitum's ImproveNet program, it is automatically shared with other Outpost Firewall Pro users via Agnitum Update to reduce the number of product prompts".... <-QUOTE}Rules auto-creation can also be enabled or disabled (via Options/Policy/Automatic Rules Creation). It can certainly be of benefit to new users running on a clean system, however there are concerns about the possibility of malware being able to exploit this feature also (and there appear to be some rare cases where selecting "Allow Once" in response to a Rules Wizard popup will result in a rule being created allowing permanent access afterwards). However auto-created rules cannot be properly deleted - you can remove them but they will be reinstated when Outpost is next started. As such, if auto-creation creates a rule you don't like, your only option is to disable that rule.

Auto-creation also creates global and application rules which may be inappropriate for some users (e.g. rules for alg.exe) and some of these have the Ignore Component Control option set, which overrides another aspect of Outpost's security. For these reasons, I would advise that users do not enable this feature for the time being.

These are significant additions to Outpost which are not going to suit everyone, but they do have a role to play. However in my view, they should have been tested further prior to public release and I would suggest that those installing Outpost 3.5 should treat it as a public beta. Agnitum do however have a record of releasing updates fairly quickly after a major release to fix problems and hopefully they will soon address the issues in 3.5.

[dylanfan]

HI again..

I've found answers to my concerns Here (http://outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16486)
"Ability to auto-create rules for known applications when they attempt to connect (Outpost will provide an alert when this happens). This will also affect global rules so those running a "tight" configuration should consider disabling this option (Options/Policy/Automatic Rules Creation/Do not create rules automatically). Outpost will download new presets from Agnitum as part of its update if this option is enabled (and will display an alert of the form "Outpost knows about X applications")"

Anyway,
"It has been reported that extra rules are added to svchost - upgraders are advised to check for them and to disable inappropriate rules (removing them will result in them being added back later). Using the "Allow Once" option of a Rules Wizard popup may result in a (non-removable) rule being created."
and
"Outpost no longer has the shutdown vulnerability mentioned in this Security Advisory, but still has one on startup unless "Stop All" is selected in Options/Policy/Advanced/Firewall Policy - however doing this may cause problems with obtaining an IP address on startup"
encourage me to wait awhile before upgrading.

My thanks to Outpost developers for the work they do. I believe OutpostPro to be one of the best firewalls ever, and it definitely is the only one I rely on for protection.

DF

Edit: Oups.... Paranoid, our posts just crossed each other. Thanks for the reply. Cheers

[Get]

{QUOTE-> Outpost rules themselves are still modifiable, it is the presets that are not. This is more of a concern for advanced users that benefit from creating their own presets and for those who use presets supplied by others for complex rules (e.g. GameSpy). Unfortunately, one specific case is the ability to tighten up DNS access which really does need a preset rule to be practicable. Those using this option should consider avoiding 3.5 until Agnitum reinstate user-modifiable presets. <-QUOTE}
Thanks for the info. Reassuring to know it's still modifiable to an extent.:)

[QBgreen]

Putting 3.5.639.6210 (457) through its paces this morning. As a whole, I've had no issues. I allowed automatic rule creation, and modified the rules after each internet abled app signed on. I also killed the global DNS rule and inserted a rule specific to my DNS servers. No need to set DNS rules for every app, that's overkill, IMHO. I only allow the attack detection and DNS cache plugins.

[starfish_001]

for me the usual long uninstall - install and then a BSOD on reboot.

Glad that I took a FD-ISR snapshot - I guess I'll wait a while.

[Paranoid2000]

The Outpost 3.5 - What to expect (http://outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16486) announcement has been updated - in light of the issues highlighted there, I would advise current owners of 3.0 not to upgrade to 3.5 unless they can be sure that none of the issues will apply to them.

As it stands, Outpost 3.5 in its default configuration does not even pass Gibson's Leaktest (http://grc.com/lt/leaktest.htm) so cannot be recommended in its current form.

[flyrfan111]

{QUOTE-> The Outpost 3.5 - What to expect (http://outpostfirewall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16486) announcement has been updated - in light of the issues highlighted there, I would advise current owners of 3.0 not to upgrade to 3.5 unless they can be sure that none of the issues will apply to them.

As it stands, Outpost 3.5 in its default configuration does not even pass Gibson's Leaktest (http://grc.com/lt/leaktest.htm) so cannot be recommended in its current form. <-QUOTE}

Did the 458 update released on the 14th resolve your concerns about the leaktest issue? I am not having any of the problems people are reporting in th OP forum. The logs don't show any strange or suspicious traffic. I am far from a firewall expert but I don't see any major problems or vulnerabilities with the latest version. Yes, Improvenet may not be the be all or end all of security, but it seems to be inline with Smartadvisor in ZA products and MS's Spywarenet idea for MSAS. While it may not be perfect, to me it improves the marketability of OP as it is known to be a good firewall but it is perceived to be for "geeks" with all the settings required to make a tuly secure copmuter. Improvenet helps by making installation more easily accomplished for non techy types. So to my view it seems a wise move on Agnitum's part to expand the scope of customers they may acquire. Auto rule creation can also be turned off of course for the more tech savvy users, although by doing that they short change the non savy users the ability to possibly use their rules. A possible improvement could be for Agnitum to have a SuperSecure section of Improvenet and allow users to get rules from more experienced/knowledgeable users with a lean to more security than usability.

[ned kelly]

Looks like the latest release is a complete disaster, going by lots of the posts over in the Outpost forum. I know lots of updates can run rough, untill the bugs get ironed out, but outpost seems to be suffering from same as the other firewalls are (BLOAT) Once firewalls head in the direction of suits and become or should i say, "try and become" all in one security bloatwares, theres no going back! So people get used to it. Just maybe norton knew what they were doing all those months, or was it years ago.... By going bloatware

[Paranoid2000]

The latest build 641/458 does include fixes to address leaktest performance and the issues with rules auto-creation. Once these have been verified, then the warning posted about auto-creation will be removed.

Presets however still cannot be changed so those using their own presets may wish to wait for Agnitum to address this issue.

[flyrfan111]

That's good, I was concerned about all the negative posts. I think it is still the best firewall available. I never had much luck with OP until version 3.0.

[hollywoodpc]

Do as you wish but , 3.5 has no place on home users computers at this point . NONE ! Beware ! Stay with 3.0 . At LEAST for now

[Carver]

I keep a back-up copy of each version for situations like this.