XP firewall, the apex ?!

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by crockett, Dec 10, 2004.

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  1. crockett

    crockett Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2002
    Posts:
    333
    Hi guys ;)

    Hope everyone is doing fine...

    I have two things troubling me these days (as far as www is concerned, that is :) )...

    First, I still don't know if ZA is or is not spying on users, as has been recently suspected in some other threads...

    Second, and that's the real reason for my posting these few lines, I know of one independent user who decided, based on his own experience and careful testing, to simply drop Kerio 2.15 altogether or Outpost Pro 2.5.370 for that matter, and go to... XPSP2-embedded firewall to take care of the inbound intrusions, while relying exclusively on SSM (System Safety Monitor) to take care of any unallowed outbound connection !

    I'd like to hear your comments about that original, troubling and interesting move...

    Thanks...
    Regards,
    Crockett :cool:
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2004
  2. CrazyM

    CrazyM Firewall Expert

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2002
    Posts:
    2,428
    Location:
    BC, Canada
    Sound like this person assessed what their needs were and made an informed decision as to what they needed and worked best for them. Perhaps outbound application control is not a concern for them, but they obviously still chose to monitor which applications are allowed to run with SSM.

    Security is about managing risks. Everybody's risks and needs will be different as will be the solutions.

    Regards,

    CrazyM
     
  3. Ianb

    Ianb Registered Member

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    Location:
    UK
    Having read the thread at dslreports I decided to uninstall ZA until the company come out with an official statement. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,11818674~mode=flat

    I've moved on to Sygate Free which is very similar to ZA and meets my needs for Inbound and Outbound connections. My pc seems to be a fair bit faster now as well so I doubt I'll be going back now.
     
  4. Notok

    Notok Registered Member

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    May 28, 2004
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    Location:
    Portland, OR (USA)
    I've come to really respect Sygate, I don't think you'll be disappointed :)
     
  5. Diver

    Diver Guest

    Actually, I don't see anything wrong with using the XP SP2 firewall. Setting up any firewall for outbound application monitoring is really too much for the non technical user. At least the SP2 fiewall does not use a lot of resourses like many of the others, and it is not likely to conflict with any other application. As far as SSM is concerned, I hav enot tried it, but I have been hearing some buzz about DiamondCS process guard.

    Additionally, I view the levels of paranoia encountered in many security oriented forums to be unwarranted and more a manifestation of the obsessive behavior that is rampant in nearly every internet forum I have participated in.

    From personal experience I can say that a softaware firewall is not necessary if you have a NAT. I did this for three years without incident. Recently, I started to use Kerio 2.15 after switching from win 2k to xp sp2 so that I could get a handle on how and when XP phones home.
     
  6. nod32_9

    nod32_9 Guest

    Yeah...more hypes to sell software. Stick with the mainstream websites. Avoid porn and warez links.
     
  7. Meltdown

    Meltdown Registered Member

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    Location:
    Babylon
    Lulled into a false sense of insecurity? :D
     
  8. Ianb

    Ianb Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2004
    Posts:
    232
    Location:
    UK
    I'm growing to really like it. ;)

    I like to keep an eye on what wants to call home and why it wants to. With Sygate and ZA it is a breeze.
     
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