New! Ashampoo Firewall

Today I have a mail from ashampoo that says new Ashampoo firewall will be released at 08/23/2006. Here is some features from letter:

Highlights:
- Very easy to use: No incomprehensible messages, no zones,
no adapters, no familiarity with protocols required (Easy Mode)
- Identifies and blocks DLL Trojans and hijackers that try to use
known applications to access the Internet without being noticed
- Identifies and blocks applications that have been changed
(e.g. by virus infection)
- User-friendly setup assistant helps you to create standard rules for
known applications like Internet Explorer, Outlook, Firefox etc.
- Easy/Expert mode: You can choose how many decisions you want
the firewall to make for you and which settings you want to automate

Additional Features:
- Rule-based: You can define specific Internet access rights for every
application (full access, no access, only via specified ports)
- Comprehensive logs with statistics showing when specific
applications accessed the Internet
- Access Stop: Temporarily disables all connections
- Display all active connections
- All rules and other settings critical for security are strongly
encrypted to prevent manipulation by malicious programs
- Self-protection: The firewall protects itself against unauthorized
termination
- Useful additional tools, including Autostart Manager, Internet Cleaner
and Process Information

 

It looks a lot like an already existing firewall...but I can't come up with the name of that one...HELP!

 

from letter:
"yet another superior product from Ashampoo, the company with a
decade of experience in programming leading Windows® utilities.
The new and fully inhouse developed Ashampoo FireWall provides
ultimate protection against Internet intruders, enabling you to regain
control over your data! "

 

Well either way, i'd give them 10/10 for interface design.

 

It somehow looks like the Mcafee Firewall ( http://www.anti-virus-software.com/capital_intellect/images/mcafee_firewall_2005_big.gif )

 

Yes it's the Mcashampoo firewall

 

Hmmm... did they re-invent the wheel again ? No problem, I only have to choose longer.

 

Except for GUI spelling and grammar which is 1/10.

 

yea it looks good,But does it work ? has anyone tested it out yet?

 

Its not available for download/purchase until August 23rd, 2006.

 

I can't help myself being cautious with this pre-release order offer.
Although affordable, I want to hold it in my hands first!

 

Someone know if will have a free version?

 

ROFL....anyone form of quality control over there?

 

Hi Wilders Security Community.

We're glad to see that there are so many discussions about our forthcoming Ashampoo FireWall but like to 'clear up' some rumors.

We promise that it's a 100% self-development from Ashampoo Development GmbH & Co. KG and no 'rebrand' of any existing firewall from one of our shortly becoming competitors. We think that this was the right decision for us as well as for our possible customers as we never really liked the way some of todays available firewall products work. (e.g. the handling of the user-interface as well as the performance consumption)

The development of the program goes very well and our test department is running tests since a long time already. As far as no problems occur anymore we hope to release a beta version within the next 1-2 weeks to our beta testing community.

There won't be a free version available but it will include the ashampoo shareware idea which means you'll be able to test the product for 10 days right after you've installed it without any restrictions. After that, you can additionally extend the time for another 30 days by registering for a free trial keycode.

Okay, we're really hope that our Ashampoo FireWall will meet your expectations and if not that you'll share your ideas, comments and suggestions with us so we can get the best out of it.

Thank you very much.

BTW, the translation of the interface will be redone completely again.

MfG / Regards
Jens Meyerholz
Product Manager Ashampoo Development GmbH & Co. KG
ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG
http://www.ashampoo.de/whois
http://www.ashampoo.com/whois

 

Latest I've seen - trial available 8/14/06 untill 8/23/06


From August 14th, 2006 you can downlad the FREE Beta Version trial of Ashampoo FireWall here and try out until August, 22th 2006.
http://www.ashampoo-14.com/images_mailing/110806/firewall_en.htm

 

Tried it last night , passed shields up , failed everything else , my NOD32 AV picked up on more security threats than Ashampoo firewall

I have a few Ashampoo products , ill be giving this on miss back to ZA pro

 

I have several ashampoo software as well. The burning studio is great, and the logged uninstaller does a good job with cleaning. Pretty underrated in my opinion, but they do a good job.

This one though, i have yet to try.

Dina

 

I downloaded the Ashampoo Firewall beta trial today. The only way to pull up the program is through the icon on the bottom right system tray. The desktop icons do not work, nor does the Firewall.exe file in C:/Programs/Ashampoo/Ashampoo Firewall.

I went to www.ashampoo.com/support to ask why, but that support website does not yet list the Firewall.

 

I agree.

 

I just received email that the Ashampoo Firewall v.1 is free.

http://www.ashampoo.com/frontend/products/php/product.php?idstring=0050&session_langid=2

 

Apparently, they're also going to release a "pro" version of their firewall for $29.00. The Ashampoo site has no details, just a "coming soon" decalration.

 

ADSL and router.

Gave the free version a whirl from Download.com.

Constant popup to enter code or continue 10 day trial.

IE and FF granted full access but no connection was possible.Tried different configs but no connect.

Uninstalled,rebooted and still no connection.

Ghosted back to before install with Netveda and no probs now.

Only good thing for me is the GUI.

 

then why are they claiming it to be free?

 

Here's the link I got it from.

Wonder if Stem could check it out for us?

Date added August 23, 2006.

http://www.download.com/Ashampoo-FireWall/3000-10435_4-10575188.html?part=dl-AshampooP&subj=uo&tag=button

 

It is free, you have to request a free code from them. The odd thing was that I was referred to a turkish version of the site to enter my e-mail address.

I installed the firewall to try it out. It runs very smooth, memory usage about 12MB and practically no influence on system perfomance.

Yet, you can see it's in its early stage of developement. To name a few things I noticed:

1) Some applications like Firefox are preconfigured on installation. But when you then use Firefox you are requested to create rules again. The reason seems to be that the file pathes are different, when it pops up the programme path is old dos-style (eg. c:\progra~1\... instead of c:\program files\...)

Generally, i would like to see much more applications preconfigured, similar as the Smart Advisor in Outpost. Also, MSN Messenger was granted full acces, I would rather see it is allowed the known ports it's supposed to use and not more.

2) Second thing is much more concerning. Even though I didn't set up a LAN network, I could still acces the shared files through another computer :s

3) If you've entered a port for an application you cannot change it afterwards (eg. to "block"), you'd first have to delete it and re-add.

For the rest it's a very light and simple firewall. I am searching for sth. like that for quite some time now, either firewalls simply are rubbish, request to much system perfomance (like Outpost), or require quite some knowledge and attention to work properly (Look n Stop, Jetico).

If this firewall gets some more development it could be a real alternative I think. If only the developers keep in mind it's a firewall - and don't include too much nonsense (like for example in ZoneAlarm nowadays). There's for example a process viewer and startup manager already included. The question is whether this adds extra value to the programm being a firewall. Windows Task Manager does the same and a startup manager is rather something for utility programmes I think (like Tuneup).