F-Secure Distributed Firewall

Hi! Does anyone have any opinion on F-Secure Distributed Firewall?
I tried it out and liked it, showed up stealth on all websites that I went to test it at, grc.com, pcflank.com, sygate.com, symantec.com, and a few others. Only things it does not block outbound programs. Presently I'm trial testing the new version of Zonealarm 3.5.169 which is also very good. My main question is, is one giving more protection than the other and is one more advanced than the other. Thanks.

 

GiannMike

I have not used this particular firewall, but did go to the F-Secure web site to see what the Distributed Firewall had to offer.

It appears to be designed for deployment in an office/business environment with the ability to be centrally managed/deployed. It is a rule based firewall that will handle what communications are permitted, but as you noted, offers no application control. While application control may be a concern for some, it may not for others.

You mention testing ZoneAlarm (free ?) and then ask:

The answer is yes and applies to both products equally. IT staff deploying a software firewall in a business environment will have different concerns than someone looking for a software firewall on a stand alone home system or small home LAN. The business environemnt is likely to have other hardware solutions in place as well.

What you need to do is assess what your requirements are and then find the solution that best meets those, your abilities and that you are comfortable with.

Regards,
CrazyM

 

Personally, I highly recommend when choosing a firewall for the home, small lan environment, it is essential to have a firewall that acts as a final line of defense against trojans.
CrazyMs answer was right on and a great assessment of the pros and cons of that particular firewall.
I just want to emphasize from my point of view, out going protection is more important to me that protection from being "hacked" or DoSed as those are not likely to happen.
In the end, everyone has to make their own choices though, and everyone will not agree with what I say.
That's cool.

 

CrazyM, thanks for the info, and your right about it being more for a corporate environment. Reason I mentioned this firewall was because my company uses it and we were offered a full license to use it on our personal computers at home, so I thought if it's good enough for them why not me, also it seemed pretty simple to use and I new where to get help when I needed it. But you were right as they also have a hardware firewall that compliments this software based one.
Root, your opinion has always had great value for me, because I come here often and at the Agnitum forum seeking help and someone has already posted the same questions that I have and your suggestions are the ones that have helped me the most, thank you. I bought Outpost Pro when it was RC1 and have enjoyed it since, in my opinion, it is the best firewall out there. Reason I'm looking for another one (temporarily) is that I recenly acquired another computer and want to share the internet connection and since Outpost doesn't support ICS I thought I would use something else. (Can't wait for Outpost 2.0 to come out, so that I can switch back).
I think I'll stick with Zonealarm (which I feel is also a great firewall) until Outpost 2.0 comes out. Thanks for the help.

Have a safe and happy holiday to everybody here.

Mike