If you are behind a router, then outbound protection is all you need, plus some sort of malware blocker like Antihook, PG, SSM etc.
Hi maddawgz, Consider the following scenarios: 1) No firewall, just AV: Any malware not specifically targeted by either AV's heuristic scanner (if it has one) or AV's signature database can get through including rootkits - and then your computer is not your own, it is one of many in a spambot network - and you will wonder why it is so slow. 2) software firewall and AV: If you use ZoneAlarm or Sygate's free firewalls, at least your ports will be stealthed, and the crackers when they port scan your IP address will not know there is a computer on the other side of your IP address and move on to the next IP address to scan. Added benefit is outbound notification of all connection attempts - you Allow the ones you know are trusted, and Deny the ones you don't know about. The exception to this is the current Windows Firewall which is inbound protection only - i.e. does not respond to unsolicited traffic that is not the result of an authorized outbound request. 3) hardware and software firewall: The software firewall provides both a catchall and outbound protection. A friend with a hardware router/firewall was attacked and when he noticed the lights on his router going crazy, was able to avert the attack. He now runs a software firewall as extract protection. Had he not been in front of his computer at the time of the attack, he probably would have had one very nasty infection or worse a rootkit on his computer. That said, a determined, expert cracker can with impunity probably bypass most firewall protection with a threat that is below the radar of existing security protection mechanisms. Which, when you think about it, is why a multi-layerd security strategy is most favored by security experts for both the clueless home user (most at risk) to corporate networks (protected, but still at risk from as yet unknown threats). Hackers are technically adept with computers and usually have a good ethical foundation in their character. The media constantly misuses the term. When their motivation changes to being less than ethical, they become crackers. Recently, crackers have been reported to be more engaged in criminal activities that are motivated to stealing identities, money, etc. in addition to corporate secrets or anything that can realize an ill-gained profit. -- Tom
