Vista Firewall Enough???

I've read this too. I know the POC has been demonstrated, but how true is it in the wild that malware can bypass the outbound control of the firewall? I expect there is a lot of malicious code out there that doesn't know how to do this and would be caught when attempting an outbound connection. My point is I think it' still useful even though it is necessary to take other precautions as well.

 

I am MORE concerned with privacy as I have not had any malware on my machine and I have a pretty good set-up as far as I am concerned (high speed modem-firewall, NOD32, SAS Pro, Vista w/ IE7 in protected mode and FF and a few others things).

I just hate it when I have a program I use that makes outbound connections without my permission. MS is notorious about it and so is Dell. I want a program I can use to stop unauthorized outbound attempts. Malware is not the problem- it's all these "legit" programs that phone home.

 

One question I have is, how are intrusion attempts handled with Vista's firewall? Example: Zone alarm will periodically pop up saying an intrusion attempt was blocked!

 

Can't help there. I have never seen any firewall pop up with an intrusion alert since I have been behind a router (at least 2 years)! Before that I used to get them all the time with Zone Alarm and others. The router obviously takes care of the blocking.

 

At home I am behind a wireless router and it is behind an alpha shield---no pop ups either. On the road I have a EVDO modem and will occasionally get a few. Just wondering if VF blocks these silently?

 

Are the ports steath with Vista Firewall or with VF + Vista Firewall Control (free)?

 

I have ran GRC shields up against Vista firewall and it was a totally stealthed! Never tried the Firewall control app.

 

As a 'good' firewall, yes! As others already pointed out you need to set outbound protection but it takes a long time.

This is also helpful as an addition to your Vista firewall. The router will protect your network provided it has NAT/SPI firewall enabled.

As long as the wireless networks your laptop often 'see' are protected and do not allow you to use them. Otherwise you have decent AVs.