I am trying to learn more about firewall products and what really works. I have typically consulted for companies on process improvement, sales, marketing, e-commerce. About a year and half ago I consulted for one of AV companies to boost their sales and profitability. So now my other clients started coming to me for AV advice and I now resell anti-virus. Now I am getting a lot of requests to fill out the security products. I like your forum and its candidness. I was approached by only one company- That represents Sonic Wall. Can anyone give me some feedback?
You asked for feedback. Wait 'til the rest get off work! (Rub hands together with glee, laughing hysterically.) I tried several firewalls. I do not know much about company financial nor marketing specs, but I know what I like. I have ZoneAlarm and VisualZone. You can get these as unlimited time freeware or you can pay for the Pro version. ZoneAlarm is easy to use, very efficient and effective. It covers ALL of your ports. I think of it as like having Security Guards on both sides of my doors (ports). If anything tries to go in or out that I haven't authorized, it gets blocked. Check 'em out at www.zonelabs.com. VisualZone helps to identify who came knocking. You can also report this to DShield.org at regular intervals if you feel like it. I found out about this program from my worst enemy. ZoneAlarm is great! I took it as a peace offering. Good Luck! (Of course, if you are asking questions here on this site, you already have great luck!)
Mark-- Have you looked into Visnetic FW? It is a very good statefull inspection fw. Despite what a lot of people state about it missing some form of 'app filtering' , which is superficial in this day and age anyways (my opinion), it does a very good job! I use it in conjunction with TTT. Here is the link www.deerfield.com CU Jazzie
Before you make a decision, take a look at Outpost. http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/ I think you will find it has a versatility and control matched by non. It is still a work in progress, but the majority of the major work should be finished shortly with version1.1 which will cover all leak tests, XP ICS and a few other bothersome problems that tend to plague most firewalls. I honestly believe that for all the people that try it, at least 90% have a very favorable view of it. Check out the forum for Outpost where people can get lots of quick support. http://www.agnitum.com/forum/ Support is also available from the company. There are two versions, free and pro for $39.95 single. I just found out the next free version will also support lans with a trusted zone. This was not available in previous free versions. This will allow many more people to get a very powerful free version. PS SonicWall? Not a major player, I think. Disclaimer: I am a beta tester for Agnitum and a Mod at the Outpost forum. My opionion may be slightly biased.
I do have to agree with root - Outpost is a good choice. As is ZoneAlarm. Plus, there's even Kerio, www.kerio.com , if you feel up to configuring it (but your time will be well spent). And you could always sandwhich all those together on one system. My two cents. -javacool
I might be wrong, but as far as I know Sonic Wall is a hardware firewall, isn't it? And all the fine firewalls you were posting about, are software firewalls. So the question is: what are you looking for, Mark? A software or hardware solution? Or perhaps both? For some more info about hardware firewalls see these links: http://www.practicallynetworked.com/ http://smallnetbuilder.com/ http://www.security-pro.co.uk/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=security;action=display;num=1022630843 It was not quite clear from your posting, Mark, whether you were talking about firewalls for companies or for individuals. In case you are talking about companies, I strongly advice a good hardware firewall, perhaps combined with software firewalls on each workstation. One other thing: ZoneAlarm was mentioned. It comes in a free and a pay version, but as far as I know the free one is only free for individuals and payware for companies.
That is correct. ZoneAlarm (not pro version) is free for "individual and non-profit use" (quote from ZoneLabs website). [hr] As for your comment on the hardware firewalls - if that is what you are after, Mark, then you might want to even look into (for business) products from Symantec of McAfee that include AV right in the hardware itself. (A new type of product - from reviews I've read in PC Magazine and the like, they are rated pretty highly - and they work pretty well at cleaning out the majority of virus-ridden attachments before they make it onto the rest of your network - now, granted, you should still have AV on individual machines, but it gives you a little more peace of mind ). UPDATE: Here's a link to one of the devices, for you to take a look at: http://enterprisesecurity.symantec.com/products/products.cfm?ProductID=133 - even if this particular device doesn't fit your fancy, it is a very good concept, in my opinion. -javacool
