Dynamic Security Agent (DSA) to replace firewall??

Any specific GUI suggestions would be appreciated! I will say that our philosophy regarding GUI has always been to keep it simple and a 'less is more' approach =). DSA, for example, is a pretty basic window with as little clutter as possible, etc.

Chris Iannicello
iannicello@privacyware.com

 

The ability to resize the window would be a good start.

 

We will try to add that enhancement into our Vista build.

Thanks,

Chris

 

try? i am not a software developer, and could be mispeaking. but windows resizing seems to be a fairly rudimentary functionality.

on another note, i am currently running DSA with OA + FW and only using the firewall capability, and DSA is simply great. it's lightweight, fast, and indominatible. and that's in training mode. cannot wait to see what other enhancements you have in store. care to provide a timeframe?


Mike

 

Yes, it is any easy fix, but I don't want to make any guarantees until I know its going to happen. I would say 1-2 months is a good timeframe for the Vista builds of DSA and Privatefirewall.

 

Are we to understand that the free DSA in it's current version will not be updated untill Vista support is finally included?

And since the public release of PrivateFireWall, will the free DSA be receiving attention with improvements also or not.

Thanks

 

We reserve to right to update any of these products at any time, so if some urgent issue comes up, we may update any product before the Vista update. However, barring any major issue, we are going to try and put improvements together for both Privatefirewall and DSA for the Vista update.

Also, any changes we make to the 'firewall' portion of either Privatefirewall or DSA will require a change in both products, as they share the same core firewall technology. We're hoping the Vista updates will not take that long.

 

So would it be redundant to have DSA running with windows firewall turned on? DSA does exactly what windows firewall does in terms of stopping inbound threats (in addition to outbound protection)?

 

Also, for those using DSA: I opened Limewire and got a swarm of pop-ups for internet access. Just messing around, I blocked them all (without clicking always block). Now, when I open limewire, I get no pop-ups about it wanting inbound and outbound access. What's the deal? It's not in the list of trusted processes or in the application security list of trusted items.

 

Sorry, I can't help you. I used to use this program, but am not fond of being spied on.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=177571

 

Thanks for the heads up. Has anyone who has run DSA with a full software firewall seen it actually try and phone home or anything phishy?

 

Private Firewall uses a licensing system, which DSA doesn't use.

Yes, Windows firewall would be redundant to use with DSA.

 

DSA does not contain any so-called "spying" provision in its Eula.

I use DSA in conjunction with System Safety Monitor (SSM). SSM has network control. In SSM, I have set rules whereby DSA's processes are configured as "Ask" -- for trusted as well as untrusted addresses. In other words, DSA cannot call home with asking my permission to do so. It has never asked in the several months I have been using it.

DSA is a useful app & should not readily be surrendered to F.U.D.

 

ciannicello- would you post a comment on the above referenced concerns? What, if anything, is collected and why? DSA looks like it could be just what I am looking for since I have a Netopia NAT router. I am also using Cyberhawk Pro and Nod32.

 

I reinstalled DSA and there is a EULA. When the EULA refers to 'Software Product', it refers to DSA , PrivateFirewall, and other security software developed by PWI. The compliance mechanism and interaction with PWI servers refers to the 'Software Product' and does not exclude DSA.

 

ciannicello drops by on very rare occasions. Maybe send him a message at...

http://www.privacyware.com/support_ticket.html

 

What happens after the training period is over? Does something change in the main menu or something that says training is over? In the email anomoly detection, I have training enabled, but it says 0 training days have been completed in the statistics. Maybe that's because I use web based email

 

I just received an email from Privacyware support. Without giving the specifics of the email, there is no communication between their servers and DSA. The EULA for many of their products will be changed as their products are updated.

 

I received a follow-up email from Privacyware. In the case of DSA, there IS indeed communication between the application and their servers.

 

I have used DSA for a long while. It has NEVER connected out, or ever tried to do so. I'm not saying it won't ever try. I AM saying that it has never done so on my box. (Moreover -- it couldn't do it, even if it tried!)

Nothing (but NOTHING) calls out from my computer unless (1) I am first notified that they are trying to connect out, AND (2) I then permit them to call out & (3) I then enable the requested port for them to do so. And, yes, I DO have watchbirds watching my watchbirds.

Perhaps DSA is triggered to *call home* by such things as attempts at backward-engineering, cracks, etc. Since I have never tried to do any such illegal acts (nor shall I do so) maybe that is the reason why DSA has never EVER tried to call home from my box.

I suppose this situation could be an issue for: (1) someone attempting a crack, OR (2) a bad guy who is looking for a way around DSA's protection of my computer, OR (3) someone who is blissfully unaware of apps that call home from his or her computer.

It isn't an issue for me. Why fret over an impossible possibility?

 

I received the email from Privacyware today so I wanted to correct an earlier posting I made that was in error. Experience teaches that things that are deemed to be 'impossible' are often very possible.

 

just a reminder that DSA when installed will not install conflicting drivers if you have a firewall installed. So if you uninstall the firewall you need to reinstall DSA to insure all drivers are installed. Not sure if this is a big risk but it does happen.

 

DSA shares the same driver with PrivateFirewall, but none other AFAIK. No other firewall should affect the driver installation/removal of the DSA driver (pwipf2.sys). The DSA installer will ask you to remove PrivateFirewall if you attempt to install on top of it (and vice versa).

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=777141#post777141 ( see post 30)

ciannicello
Infrequent Poster
(quote)
If during installation, DSA detects a firewall application for which it conflicts, DSA will install all components except the conflicting driver. Therefore, whatever personal firewall you had installed originally (and presumably prefer), will provide such capabilities. DSA will enhance that firewall with the anomaly detection and process monitoring layers. If you are not married to any particular personal firewall, we suggest Privacyware Privatefirewall 5.0 in which DSA will be fully integrated

I emailed ciannicello last year regarding this and his response was to reinstall DSA. Perhaps they have now changed this in the latest builds , however i doubt it.

 

Good to know, SPC. Thanks.