Is firewall needed if SSM's network rules are enabled?

I have a NAT router for incoming. I am using Kerio 2.1.5 for outgoing.

If I enable System Safety Monitor's network rules module, do I need Kerio any more?

In other words, will using SSM's network rules module provide outgoing protection which is approximately equivalent to that provided by Kerio 2.1.5?

 

Personally, I still adhere to the concept of a HIPS doing the job of a HIPS and a firewall doing the job of a firewall, so I keep SSM's network module disabled. I just feel that a firewall, including Kerio 2.1.5, does a better - more thorough - job of controlling outbound network communications. Besides, Kerio has no appreciable impact on mosy systems' performance.

 

Nah i'd say you don't really need kerio 2.1.5 anymore. Your router takes care of inbound connections and ssm takes care of outbound connections.

 

This has been raised before - if you only want basic yes/no network access then SSM's firewall feature should suffice. However it is not (yet) adequate for handling limited access (i.e. restrictions by address or port) since you only have trusted/untrusted zones which are applied to all applications.