Windows Firewall Control (WFC) by BiniSoft.org

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by alexandrud, May 20, 2013.

  1. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    "Clear log" and reenable checkboxes gives a temporary effect, and only in the current work session. First, the log loads quickly, then, apparently, as the log is full, within 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 55 seconds. If you reboot the system now, the log will load for 3 minutes, it seems that it will not load at all.
    And if the option "Auto refresh on open" is enabled, then it’s really bad, because no control buttons are available.
    Returning to v6.1.0.0 - there is no problem, the largest log is loading for 10 seconds
     
  2. Special

    Special Registered Member

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    Did you not remove/change this option before the buyout? Also "can't afford to spend 8+ hours a day", it's so simple dude, then don't! :p Also, you are now part of a business that have "allocated entire teams for support tickets"... so I don't get your point here, maybe when you were indie, but now you/it's Malwarebytes, swap the support e-mail link, or setup an FAQ Page/whatever the cool-kids do nowadays.

    The fact is, you added that feature because you believed in it and thought was good, and indeed it is because M$/Steam/whoever should not be allowed to just make rules willy-nilly, that's why we use a firewall after all, to block/give us control. But then because of "support e-mail" you made your product for the worse.

    PS. I still like you!
     
  3. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    This is a side effect of:
    - Fixed: The service name for svchost.exe notifications is detected only for the Windows services that are already running when WFC service starts. If a Windows service is started after, the notification will not detect the Windows service that triggered the notification.
    I tweaked the code a little bit, please install version 6.3.0.0. Thank you for reporting this.
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2020
  4. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Oh man, you just don't give up, not even after 2 years. Let's ask the users which Secure Rules do they prefer. If the majority will vote for that implementation, then I will add it back. However, both implementations can't coexist because there are too many implications, so it is either OPTION 1, either OPTION 2.

    OPTION 1 - SECURE RULES - Current implementation

    In Windows, all programs executed with administrative privileges can add Windows Firewall rules. There is no way to prevent this in Windows Firewall. One way to protect against this is to have UAC enabled which will inform the user each time an application requires elevated privileges.

    Windows Firewall Control is notified when a new firewall rule is added and can delete or disable any unauthorized rule that is being added by other programs. Any rule which is created with the group name different than the defined authorized group names is considered to be an unauthorized rule. Based on the user choice, these unwanted firewall rules will be deleted or disabled. Disabling the rules instead of deleting them is useful for reviewing purposes because the user has the opportunity to see which programs have this hidden behavior. Usually, a software should not add new firewall rules without asking the user, but unfortunately there are programs that try to enforce their own created firewall rules no matter what. One example is Steam service.

    The list of authorized groups contain the following predefined group names which can't be removed:
    · Windows Firewall Control - This group name is used by default for all firewall rules created from Windows Firewall Control.
    · Temporary Rules - This group name is used when creating temporary rules from the notification dialog.

    When Secure Rules is set to disable unauthorized rules, Windows Firewall Control will automatically disable these rules and will add the "U - " prefix to the rule name. This applies to the newly created firewall rules and to existing ones.

    upload_2020-6-27_3-56-23.png

    OPTION 2 - SECURE RULES - Was available in WFC versions 5.1.0.0 [04.03.2018] - 5.3.1.0 [24.04.2018]


    In Windows, a software executed with administrative privileges can add, modify, remove Windows Firewall rules. Windows Firewall Control can prevent these external changes. When this feature is enabled, adding, modifying or importing firewall rules can be done only through the Windows Firewall Control user interface. This feature is automatically disabled when Windows Firewall Control is uninstalled.

    When this feature is enabled:
    • Windows Store will fail to install new apps because they will try register themselves in Windows Firewall, which will not be allowed.
    • Adding, modifying or removing firewall rules through Windows Firewall with Advanced Security or command line will not work.
    • If you see a notification from Windows Firewall when a new program tries to open a port, no matter what action you choose, "Allow access" or "Cancel", a new firewall rule will not be created.
    • If you try to enable/disable certain operating system features through Control Panel, like Network Discovery, File and Printer Sharing, etc, nothing will happen.
    • Sometimes, the Start Menu may freeze and not display anymore. If this happens, disable Secure Rules for a few seconds to allow the operating system to install the firewall rules it requires, then enable again Secure Rules and review your rules. Remove manually any new unwanted firewall rules
    More about this option around this post and previous pages.

    upload_2020-6-27_3-53-33.png
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2020
  5. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Windows Firewall Control v.6.3.0.0

    Change log:
    - Improved: Detecting invalid rules is now made at service level instead of UI level, meaning that the rules defined for files that are not accessible are not detected anymore as invalid.
    - Fixed: Connections Log loading time increased after last update if Security log contains older entries for processes that are not running anymore.

    Download location: https://www.binisoft.org/download/wfc6setup.exe
    SHA1: 5857dfb3194b026ca4476b9b59a2eae561b0360b
    SHA256: 2f8da7b55fb65c308b7c7773b21cdb8422cc5215692078720f2d265a1e7b19d8

    Have a great weekend,
    Alexandru
     
  6. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    I am strictly AGAINST the reimplementation of the old Secure Rules (Option 2)!

    That means I vote clearly for option 1!
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2020
  7. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    Yeah, I had sometimes really that problem.
    Oops, that was not related to this case, as I could test before.

    However: very good change anyway!
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2020
  8. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    :thumb: Now no problem, all is well. Thanks for the quick fix!
     
  9. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    I choose this.
     
  10. Special

    Special Registered Member

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    Because it's an important feature to me and others I'm sure too, why should I give up.

    Well now... we just need two versions of WFC with just that difference, you can call option 1 version "WFC: Baby Edition". :)

    You bring up some really GREAT points!

    Why?
     
  11. ravenise

    ravenise Registered Member

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    "Improved: Detecting invalid rules is now made at service level instead of UI level,
    meaning that the rules defined for files that are not accessible are not detected"

    Is this not a digression rather than an improvement? the only invalid rules I had ever detected were for files that no longer exist, this is the only reason i ever used the feature, which can be quite useful to clean up.
     
  12. ravenise

    ravenise Registered Member

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    Latest update 6.3.0.0, scrolling in rules page lags and uses upto 10%-25% of 6 core cpu. constantly crashes right clicking the task bar icon and the rules panel freezes leading to the program to crash and reload itself. here is a video i recorded of the event... https://ufile.io/81fxo97v
     
  13. ravenise

    ravenise Registered Member

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    Someone please share a link to version 6.2.0.0, I cannot find it and the latest version is broken

    update: found a copy here: ~Link Removed~
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 27, 2020
  14. Special

    Special Registered Member

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    Thought he moved to a "web installer"? Cases like these is why I hate web installer... Anyways using " https://binisoft.org/download/old/6200/wfc6setup.exe " should get you the "official" version if that it what you already did then, never mind.
     
  15. AmigaBoy

    AmigaBoy Registered Member

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    About Secure Rules, I'll vote for Option 1 too. I remember Option 2 and it broke things in Windows 10. What would be a really helpful addition here (when rules are auto-deleted), is a log/list of these deleted rules.

    About "Removed: The X button from text boxes", I'm not sure why this happened? These buttons were convenient and I used them quite often. Now clearing text has become cumbersome.
     
  16. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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  17. almasy

    almasy Registered Member

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    Version 6.3.0.0 is working fine for me so far, thanks alexandrud! No lag or freezes, logs load faster again.

    Personally, I would stick with option 1 for secure rules, though I get the point from option 2.

    I'm also hoping for the text box X button to come back :)

    I'm still scratching my head over not seeing notifications when running wfc.exe as user with standard rights. Interestingly, I can see an empty notification window when using the alt-tab preview, but it's not possible to bring this window to front either. When running wfc.exe as admin, notifications work normally. Nothing helpful in the event log. Any hint would be much appreciated.
     
  18. JNicoll23

    JNicoll23 Registered Member

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    I'm sure WFC will still indicate that rules that refer to non-existent files are bad.

    But, as discussed around post 5651, WFC was mistakenly marking as invalid rules that referred to files that /did/ exist, but WFC's GUI, running under the current user's authority, could not see them (so assumed they did not exist). Now, putting that check in the 'service', which can see every file, means WFC won't flag valid rules.
     
  19. JNicoll23

    JNicoll23 Registered Member

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    I choose Option 1.
     
  20. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    Does this feature not help?
    ScreenShot_86.png
     
  21. almasy

    almasy Registered Member

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    Sorry aldist, I was being unclear: I meant I want to see notifications, I have them enabled in the settings, but still they don't appear (only as empty windows when using alt-tab preview). This only happens when running wfc as user with standard rights. As a workaround, I can close wfc and start it again with admin rights. Still, I'm curious why this happens.
     
  22. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    Maybe. Now it is better to use Disable instead of Delete, the prefix U will be automatically added to the name of the disabled rules.
    A click on the column header will bring together all the rules with the prefix U.
    ScreenShot_88.png ScreenShot_87.png
     
  23. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    wfc.exe should not be executed as administrator, see here also ...
    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/thr...-by-binisoft-org.347370/page-223#post-2917674

    This means, you should try to fix it "somehow". Have you tried a clean deinstallation and reinstallation already? See for that also the WFC User Guide at binisoft.org, begin with page 43 there (Troubleshooting).

    Good luck and a nice weekend!
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2020
  24. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    My points are EXACTLY the same as described from the developer. I should wrote that to my "strong" statement before, that's right.

    However: at the end: you have an opinion, I have another!

    If the majority is for option 2, I could accept it! If not, I hope you could then also accept it, could you (at least for a certain time *g*)?. We will see how the result is ...
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2020
  25. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    Yes, that's right, please use only download links at binisoft.org - that's the one and only official place for WFC binaries. Other places are undesired.
     
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