Need a good firewall -- not a crapwall

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by comma dor dash, Sep 23, 2007.

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  1. Paranoid2000

    Paranoid2000 Registered Member

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    What, all those incoming probes from trojaned PCs looking for new botnet recruits? It may not harm those with a secure setup but such traffic can hardly be considered "harmless" by any means! As for phone-home behaviour, it should be considered at least a privacy risk since if done frequently enough, it can provide a good track of your online presence. Of course, we have the example noted above of Windows "Genuine Advantage" disabling features due to Microsoft's server problems.

    Getting back to the original topic - pretty much any firewall of consequence has caused problems for at least some users, whether due to "bad coding", conflicts with other "bad" software or drivers or even faulty hardware (problem memory notably). Unfortunately, the requirements for firewalls to have to oversee a wider range of program activities (in order to counter leaktests and malware using similar techniques) increases the chance of things going amiss.

    Anyone encountering problems should contact the vendor(s) concerned to give them a chance to fix things (and yes, Agnitum do fix things as the Sandbox.sys crash when playing World of Warcraft thread shows) not least since it benefits the user community as a whole - presumably this has been done privately to Agnitum in this case?
     
  2. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    AND IT STILL IS! :D

    Outdated? Why? Simply because it's release date is years ago and no longer supported?

    Too bad, it is as formidable as well as light as any reliable/stable firewall gets, and this oddly enough is the exact same firewall that i used to use on Windows 98. :cool:

    In the 4+ years of my using this "outdated" firewall, NOTHING serious is penetrated my XP system whatsoever, and even if it did, it would have to be a file infector virus capable of scrambling it's code to disable it because my HIPS restarts any program the instant it's been closed and keeps restarting it indefinitely.

    Proud Satisfied and Protected Owner of an old outdated Kerio 2.15 :thumb:
     
  3. spamyou

    spamyou Registered Member

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    In the past, I had issues with ZAP phoning home as well. After reading this, had to check mine.

    Antispyware turned off, updates checkbox set to manual not autoupdate, and red x put beside zone apps that connect to internet (and of course I had not checked share settings during install). Used tcp view and rebooted and watched. No attempt to connect, no popup, no phoning home. I am wondering if you had either antispyware on or autoupdate box still checked (seperate from the program control). I have some issues with ZAP (and all firewalls I have tried), but that does not seem to be one of them.

    But I have been reading this, because if you are looking for a non-buggy, updated, firewall that would allow at least very specific on the fly rules, specifying port and where connected, anytime a program tried to connect to the internet or use any program that has internet access I would very much like the same.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2007
  4. larryb52

    larryb52 Registered Member

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    maybe you should just unplug from the internet ;-), than I'm sure you'll be good & safe. Firewalls are like cars, they do what the person instructs it to do & that usually means use common sense. However cars get hit dispite your best efforts, same goes for a firewall. As my dad use to say if somebody wants something of yours bad enough they'll get it...give it a rest or find the best you can & watch where you go. My thought is where are you going & what are you so afraid of?
     
  5. Perman

    Perman Registered Member

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    Hi, folks: Like old saying: Do not use it, if you have any doubt. But if you do use it, please give it with your full trust.
     
  6. larryb52

    larryb52 Registered Member

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    but seriously look at Lavasofts it's like outpost without the bloat...
     
  7. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Yes, all those "probes" for me are harmless. A cheap $40 NAT router renders them a complete non-issue Paranoid. As for the phoning home stuff, I really don't care at all if someone tracks my online presence.. To each his own though. ;)
     
  8. comma dor dash

    comma dor dash Registered Member

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    @larryb52

    Thanks for your second post!! (First one was less helpful.) I did not know about this firewall. This may be exactly what I was looking for. Will certainly give it a try.

    @spamyou

    Maybe you can somehow switch it off. I won't try it again. Already during the installation procedure it tried to phone home. And at this stage, there was definetely no way to prevent it from doing so.

    @Easter

    I used Kerio for a long time. Maybe it's still good. I don't know. And it's difficult to find out because it's abandon-ware. Do you know whether it support raw sockets?

    @ellison

    "Manually updating" means that I do not allow MS Windows to contact the internet. I download the updates with my browser (not: IE!) and then apply them manually. But not this WGA crap of course. Moreover, I do use a layered approach. And no, I won't give up. Thanks to larryb. Moreover, I figured out a way to bring Kasperky Anti-Hacker back to life (though it's abandon-ware). Consequently, I have at least two choices.

    @Hipgnosis, Delgado & others

    I tried ZAP more than a year ago. I also tried Jetico in the past. You should give every product a second chance. But feel free to directly call me a stupid idiot who knows knothing about firewalls. That's perfectly fine with me ;)

    @all

    Main purpose of this thread is not to give up or in but to clearly express the need for a good firewall (and explain how it should look like).
     
  9. Climenole

    Climenole Look 'n' Stop Expert

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    Hi ,.-

    Lavasoft FW; a try... of 2 minutes: CRAP ! another crap ! :D

    ZAP ? Crap, another crap ! :D :D

    Raw sockets? oh oh : you're a Steve Gibson groupie I see.

    Kerio 2.1.5 : crap ! another crap ! :D :D :D

    WGA crap.

    Read the sentence you wrote again (and again):

    "Manually updating" means that I do not allow MS Windows to contact the internet. ® ,.-

    Did Bill Gates deliver the updates on CDs at home like a pizza ? :D

    :D

    ZAP: crap. Jetico: CRAP! another crap ! :D :D :D :D


    Thank you very much o_O
     
  10. ellison64

    ellison64 Registered Member

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    Well good luck in your search ...and maybe when you find that holy grail of a firewall ....you might like to share it?
    ellison
     
  11. comma dor dash

    comma dor dash Registered Member

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    @climenole

    "Did Bill Gates deliver the updates on CDs at home like a pizza ?" There are locations from where you can manually download updates with third party software that does not submit confidential data to MS.

    @ellison

    Will let you know about my favorites. Probably KAH or Lavasoft (if stable).
     
  12. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    Netgear DG834 is a bit old but good enough for me. All this fuss over software is too much for me. I use my machines for work and pleasure - not for trying to stop Bill Gates from phoning home when he wants to.
     
  13. ellison64

    ellison64 Registered Member

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    Isnt lavasoft a rebranded outpost?
    elliosn
     
  14. ellison64

    ellison64 Registered Member

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    I second your choice of router.One of the best for not dropping synch with very low noise margin.Most of the time mines between 1 and 4 db and it still holds the connection.Great router imo.
    ellison
     
  15. wat0114

    wat0114 Guest

    It's not hard to implement a few rules to stop what is not necessary. But I guess apathy is Microsoft's trusted ally.
     
  16. Climenole

    Climenole Look 'n' Stop Expert

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    Hi ,.-

    Yes but from where they obtained these updates?
    From MS, a company you don't trust but still using their MS Windows.
    So you trust these "locations" ? (No crap there?)

    Confidential data? Is it the fact you have or not a genuine Windows version?

    The real security threats are spywares and back doors developed by the Internet mob, not MS updates or WGA.

    This is a false sense of security.

    Anybody who want to control every details in any system will fail.

    The time will show.

    Bye
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2007
  17. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    This quote was taken from a blog about the Lavasoft firewall.

     
  18. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    But according to the song "everybody wants to rule the world". :D ;) :isay:
     
  19. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    You could spend a lifetime trying to stop what is not necessary on your PC. Just what evil and harmful things do you think MS is doing with your machine anyway?
     
  20. wat0114

    wat0114 Guest

    @ ,.- this thread has gone ot so it's become too cumbersome to sift through the rubble. Anyways, have you not had success with older versions of Outpost, version 2.7 in particular? The rules for it are easy to create on the fly and it does run very stable, AFAIK.
     
  21. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    From Wikipedia. It appears that Lavasoft is a rebranded Outpost.

    .

    Here is a review of the LS firewall when it was first offered.

    http://gladiator-antivirus.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=30000
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2007
  22. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    True, this thread has gone astray and has also pretty much run it's course.. The OP has more or less rejected all the firewall candidates and possibilities, so there isn't much left to discuss.. Perhaps a cheap router, av and safe browser with a little extra HIPS on top would do just as well....
     
  23. mercurie

    mercurie A Friendly Creature

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    I have gone back and been with this version for a week and I agree. Very stable. I knew when I first got my lifetime license way back when it was working good. I just forgot since the last hand full of versions. o_O
     
  24. Stem

    Stem Firewall Expert

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    The pre-config rules are there is wanted/needed, if not, then remove them. I suppose that not everything is simple, certainly not with advanced (as most call them) firewall rules, if time is taken, then Jetico is quite simple to config (IMHO)
    Have a look at Jetico2, maybe this would be better suited to what you want?
    Jetico1 is no longer in development, any problems with this and other software is left with a user problem. Jetico2 is current (but a need to purchase~) and any problems would be looked at.
     
  25. Seer

    Seer Registered Member

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    Well, because manuals are there for reading, aren't they? They can help you to learn something new...

    Would 'delete' key on your keyboard suffice?

    I didn't experienced instabilities with Jetico v2. With some betas yes, but not with the last few final builds. Was Jetico actually unstable when you tried it? How exactly? I am curious.
     
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