Best free newb-friendly HIPS?

It's also not free so it's a moot point for this discussion.

Why does it appear to be so unreasonably difficult for folks to actually try to provide the type of info and assistance the OP has requested rather than just listing their personal favorites regardless of whether they are germane to the topic?

 

I think the problem is that there's no such thing as a newbie-friendly HIPS. HIPS can be made easier to use, with learning mode or by tuning down the paranoia, but ultimately the user needs to know a good deal about their OS.

Mind you, I am a bit biased, because I think most HIPS have a serious design flaw: they rely on the user. Computers are dumb, predictable machines that cannot make mistakes. Users, no matter how experienced, can make mistakes, and with a HIPS that can lead to all kinds of problems.

Default deny is a good strategy. Process isolation is a good strategy. Querying the user on everything remotely suspicious-looking is not a good strategy. Even with extensive use of learning mode, most HIPS I know of default to querying the user on everything with a nice yes/no prompt, which invites me to do something dumb every time it happens.

P.S. There is software in the Linux world - chiefly AppArmor - that works on the same principles as a HIPS. The difference is that learning mode for it is per process. This makes it vastly more useful and vastly more secure... But sadly, such software basically doesn't exist for Windows. Too bad.

 

To lazy to read carefully the post? Agree 100%.
Another vote for Comodo FW.

 

Online Armor for me is the heaviest of the freebies with multiple processes using a totaly of around 40mb of memory, vm. It also has the most I/O activity. 2nd in terms of resource usage is PrivateFirewall with its one process usually around 25mb of memory. Lowest resoure usage has been Comodo FW and D+ with two processes using a total of 4mb of memory and very very little I/O.

 

Comodo sounds very light, are you using it right now?

I might test the 3 and compare them (I'm using Online Armor at the moment) and see how they perform when I'm casually browsing.

 

I thought for a beginner it was the most friendly out there
and if sit up right does act like a hips just with more help
for the user, but you are right it is not free
and it seems some people are just touch-e

 

Comodo or OA.

 

On my XP Pro system, both Comodo and PrivateFirewall are by far the lightest.

I am currently using Comodo and it is very quiet and resource friendly.

 

Is Spyshelter a HIPS? I know it's a anti-keylogger but it does gives me prompts like the HIPS of OA and CMD D+.

 

Yep. Spyshelter is a HIPS/keylogger. They call it System defense.

"System DefenseSpyShelter guards your registry, your physical memory (RAM), and other sensitive computer parts and processes so that malicious code cannot be injected to seize control of your PC."

I tried the free version and found it chatty at times. It gave great prompts when sometheing came up. The firewall version of it is very good too.

 

Ah thanks kjdemuth

 

Private firewall is free and provides great protection

 

That's for sure.

 

Comodo, without a shadow of doubt.

 

Maybe not strictly HIPS but very close - SpyShelter Personal Free mainly as the anti-keylogger but with strong and friendly HIPS module. And of course ThreatFire with advanced settings.

 

How do you determine "resource friendly"?

Task manager doesn't give accurate resource usage.

 

I go by the response and "zip" (no pun intended...well, maybe a little) manifested by the system. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't think the numbers alone are a good enough predictor of how a given app will coexist with one's setup. (I will occasionally employ Process Explorer or Process Hacker to look deeper.)

On my system, Comodo and PrivateFirewall are by far the most copacetic.
Online Armor (formerly my favorite) and Outpost are both problematical.

I don't rely much upon the numbers anymore as I've seen more "needy" apps (resource usage-wise) run more compliantly than so-called "lighter" apps in the past.

 

Online Armor Free is the way to go.

 

Well, that's it then.

 

Try comodo specially if you are in a x64 machine and if you want a pure HIPS deactivate the sandbox and take a look to the settings. It's totally transparent to the computer performance.

 

Couldn't agree more my friend.

 

Not every antivirus has a web shield, for those using an antivirus without a webshield, OA is a boon to them. OA comes with a webshield, it can be used with or without another webshield.

 

I assume your on 32-bit.
Free = Malware Defeder
Paid = DefenseWall (Must be installed on a clean system)
Personally I really like both but DefenseWall has been a part of my setup for quite a long time now.
Online Armor is quite good too.
(still wondering why "Best free newb-friendly HIPS?" thread is in the "other firewalls" section)

 

So which one you ended up using?