Firewall with good outgoing application control, please

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by SirDracula, Apr 20, 2007.

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  1. SirDracula

    SirDracula Registered Member

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    Jetico, Kerio 2.1.5, Sygate, Comodo and maybe others - I know I can make trusted zones by hand. However, I'd like the firewall to detect the new networks and also prompt me on new connections to the trusted zone whether to allow or deny. I do NOT want an app to ask for permission to connect to the trusted zone, allow it and then the firewall to automatically allow the app to connect to the Internet zone also and then have to go in and track down the rule and edit it by hand. There's nothing wrong with the apps above, it's all about convenience.

    I looked at Filseclab - didn't leave a good impression.

    I think my choices would be ZA 5.5 or 4.5 How did I get here? Well, I bought ZA 7 Suite a few days ago and I'm very disappointed, very bloated, some things don't work right (no need to list them, I tried to get help in the ZA forums and from their tech support which is close to useless, they send back some generic answers and it seems the solution is always uninstall/re-install). I'm considering either asking for a refund for ZA7 or if I like ZA 4.5 or 5.5 to maybe convince ZA to give me a key for 4.5 or 5.5 instead of my ZA 7 key.

    I didn't mention ZA7 earlier because I didn't want to let it influence any recommendations.
     
  2. Stem

    Stem Firewall Expert

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    If you look at Jetico1, this gives what you mention. Take time to correctly check a firewalls abilty. Rules within Jetico, such as "Allow outbound to Trusted zone", the trusted zone is a variable, depending on the entries within this zone (Loopback/LAN automatically entered on boot/connection,.. depending on settings)
     
  3. SirDracula

    SirDracula Registered Member

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    I just felt Jetico offered too much and not straight forward to configure. I like simple stuff with advanced features only when I need them. I liked the current Sunbelt Kerio to give you an idea of what I'm looking for in terms of interface and features (I turned off HIPS and application interaction though) but the thing is just too buggy, it trashed my Firefox connections for some reason. In my opinion Sunbelt had the chance to make a great firewall, along the lines of Comodo and they just blew it. Very few updates over the past year (and not that Kerio doesn't need updates because it's perfect) and it seems to be worse now than the previous versions.
     
  4. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Hello,

    Never had a problem with Kerio. Very solid. Trashed Firefox? Sounds severe. You should explore and see why and how and when.

    Firewalls don't need weekly updates - their job is to filter traffic. Last I remember, the web protocols have not changed much in the last 15 years. So a firewall is a firewall is a firewall...

    Mrk
     
  5. noway

    noway Registered Member

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    Just wanted to add that Zonealarm Plus can be hard to find. It is like Zonealarm Pro but with just the firewall features and the last version made as such. It's filename can be Googled, it's:

    zaplusSetup_45_594_000.exe

    md5 as follows http://www.toast442.org/md5/:

    97a5e6f9bf810214d92d43d760907d34

    (this is the 30 day trial and can be turned into the full version with a key)
     
  6. SirDracula

    SirDracula Registered Member

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    Unfortunately this 4.5.594 version doesn't work on 2 computers with XP SP2 latest patches. Right after install it crashes with a BSOD and upon reboot it keeps doing the same.

    It's actually not hard to find, it's right on the ZA history page:

    http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/information/znalm/zaReleaseHistory.html
     
  7. noway

    noway Registered Member

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    That's the Free, not the Plus. Plus is no longer downloadable from Zonelabs. No probs for me on XPSP2, but have only installed needed patches and always wait for feedback on each one.
     
  8. SirDracula

    SirDracula Registered Member

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    Not true. After installing it, it asks if you want to start a trial in Pro mode or Free. Anyway, I also tried the one from betanews (the installer has the checksum you posted), and same problem.

    http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/ZoneAlarm_Plus/1023831973/2
     
  9. snowbound

    snowbound Retired Moderator

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    Works fine on mine(+ version) and has for some time(XP SP2).



    snowbound
     
  10. SirDracula

    SirDracula Registered Member

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    who knows ... maybe the installation conflicts with some latest patches or something. if you had it installed and then applied windows patches maybe it's fine. i'm just speculating.
     
  11. noway

    noway Registered Member

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    Pro or Free does not equal Plus. Like I said, Plus is no longer downloadable from Zonelabs.

    Sorry about your luck.
     
  12. snowbound

    snowbound Retired Moderator

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    Quite possible. I've had that version of ZA+ since it's release which was long before i ever installed SP2.



    snowbound
     
  13. dave88

    dave88 Registered Member

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    4.5.594 works great on one of my xp boxes with all xp patches up to date.

    If you have ever had a later version of ZA installed, uninstalling it leaves some traces that are not compatible with 4.5.594, they need to be removed manually before installing 4.5.594

    instructions for complete uninstall of later versions:
    http://forums.zonealarm.com/zonelabs/board/message?board.id=AllowAccess&message.id=103
     
  14. SirDracula

    SirDracula Registered Member

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    I just have no luck with it. I tried it on 2 real computers and also a VMware image, they all result in BSOD right after install. All these were clean, never had ZA before. There must be something in common that has a conflict.

    I'd love to hear from others whether they can install ZA 4.5.594 on a clean XP machine with SP2 and all current updates installed first.

    Meanwhile, ZA 5.5.094.000 works fine and it seems to be light enough, though it comes with a little bit of crap that I have to turn off.
     
  15. noway

    noway Registered Member

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    Have you gone to Control Panel-System-Advanced-Startup and Recovery and unchecked the option to automatically reboot after system failure and made sure that memory dump is checked? Then checked the Event Viewer (Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Event Viewer) for a description of the error?

    I guess graphics drivers and other security software are some of the usual suspects.
     
  16. SirDracula

    SirDracula Registered Member

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    Not worth the extra trouble. If it just doesn't work right away, I can't feel good about it. ZA 5.5 is fine though.
     
  17. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    Well, there does seem to be concerns voiced over many posts when a program has not been updated for a lengthy period of time. It is presumed that the authors have either abandoned the program, sold it to another company which absorbed it, or gone into working on something else. Antivirus and antispyware programs are considered "obsolete" and "outdated" when it hasn't been updated in a few months. I've used an older version of McAfee VirusScan for many years and haven't had any serious infection on one of my PCs. Firewalls are a slightly different creature. You wouldn't think that they need updating, but since other security functions have been added into many new programs of these types, it is expected that you need to update them as well or else it would be considered vulnerable.
     
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