Are Firewalls Enough Protection

[Antus]

Time after Time this question has been raised. Are we completley safe with just a firewall? Review and quote below.

http://www.plynt.com/resources/learn...tion_firewall/

[TOMxEU]

Originally Posted by Antus

Are we completelly safe with just a firewall?

Absolutelly (in my opinion). Even properly set up PC without a firewall is safe enough.
Of course, it is a huge difference, if it is a desktop, a server or a PC in network domain.

[trickyricky]

Yes, safe enough with just a firewall against the perils on the internet, but maybe not safe enough against the actual user of the PC...

[sosaiso]

I've wondered about this myself.

I never use my antivirus... I do weekly scans with Ewido/SAS/antivirus, and nothing is ever found. [not even spyware cookies because I clean cache when I exit firefox.]

But, there is always that "when" and "if" we always get afraid of... So I guess, at least an antivirus SHOULD stay.

[Alphalutra1]

I am wondering about dropping my av and making it on-demand only as well. I have never had an av catch anything unwanted on my pc, whether it was nod, antivir, kav, etc. The only problem is that this pc is shared, but the other user has a limited user and only surfs banking sites really. Sandboxie coupled with SSM really makes me wonder whether or not an av is necessary. Also, using proxomitron for opera and ie and ablock with noscript really has my browsers locked down. I may make the switch soon .

Alphalutra1

[aigle]

I was also thinking like but in a bit different way, that is to drop Antivir and to just rely upon SSM free( GUI disconnected) and GesWall plus SnoopFree.
And I also think to make my system to Rollback to a clean snapshot on every boot with RollbackRx, while disabling windows updates( but to disable windows updates is the only thing I am not able to accept so far).

An good antivirus and firewall is like home insurance. It takes ONE time for you to understand you need it when you get some malware. I like NOD32, Kaspersky,
Grisoft free for antivirus and Zone Alarm pro or Kaspersky firewall.

At the least every windows computer on the planet needs a free antivirus with free antispyware (lavasoft etc.) and zonealarm....seems to be the easiest to use for free firewalls. CA antivirus is good too and somewhat free (12 month trial).

Most windows vulnerabilites are exacerbated by the user. I am not apologizing for microsoft, they could write much better software...but some people....geeez!

Are we completley safe with just a firewall?

There's no such thing as completely safe using Windows. I consider a firewall a necessity. Signature based security software is becoming less effective all the time. See the link on http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=143491, first post. I don't rely on a resident AV anymore. I can't remember the last time one detected something on my system that I didn't deliberately bring in for testing. That said, I still use AV scanners to check all incoming files, but don't consider the AV as part of my core security. Like several others in this thread, I rely on System Safety Monitor to protect me from unknown threats.
Control is the key to being as secure as possible with Windows.
1, Control of the traffic in and out of your PC, a firewall.
2, Control over what is allowed to run and what these processes are allowed to do, and block everything else, HIPS like System Safety Monitor.
3, Control over what content can be delivered by the traffic that is allowed, content filtering like Proxomitron provides.
4, And of course, the worst problem and hardest to fix, control over the users of the PC and the things they click on, open, download, etc.
Although an AV doesn't provide the protection it used to, I'd still recommend keeping one. If you have a good understanding of how your operating system works, are confident in your ability to configure other security software that doesn't depend on signatures like HIPS and a good firewall, and have a good system backup procedure in place, then you might consider not relying on a resident AV. That's a decision you have to make for yourself when you're ready.
Rick

[The Hammer]

Originally Posted by Antus

Time after Time this question has been raised. Are we completley safe with just a firewall? Review and quote below.

http://www.plynt.com/resources/learn...tion_firewall/

For me the short answer is no. To go with a firewall only is like playing Russian Roulette. You might get to spin the chamber of the revolver and pull the trigger a few times before you get shot.

[mercurie]

Originally Posted by The Hammer

For me the short answer is no. To go with a firewall only is like playing Russian Roulette. You might get to spin the chamber of the revolver and pull the trigger a few times before you get shot.

BANG! Splat! There goes another unprotected machine

The Hammer is right. I agree.