Networking problem with F-Secure Firewall

Hi Folks,

I am confused by the Trusted Network Adapter in F-Secure IS. I wanted to connect two computers by Ethernet via my 2Wire 2700HGV router last night, but Windows wouldn't even let me view the workgroup, and I kept getting an error message saying 'Home is not accessible', and something about administrator settings. Well, I am an administrator, and there are no other users on the computer, so this baffled me for hours. In the end, I stumbled upon the Trusted Network Adapter drop down menu in FSIS, chose my network card, which also specified the IP of the computer on the network, and once I allowed this, I could then view the workgroup.

I am now totally confused as to whether to allow this or not, because it says in the Help pages that this can be a security risk. If I don't, it seems I can't network my PCs, if I do, am I opening myself up to the internet with no protection? I have enabled File & Printer Sharing, and Windows Network Browsing, but the machines will still not see each other on the network, without the Trusted Network Adapter enabled.

Please can someone clarify this, as it's driving me nuts!

TIA,

Simon.

 

I had the same problem, and put in my adapter, same as you. I didn't worry about the security issue, as BelArc-Advisor says the same thing about even having a network. The only security issue that I'd worry about is that if one pc gets infected, the chances are more likely for the other one to get infected. One pc has FSIS and the other has AntiVir and ThreatFire, so both have HIPS to protect themselves...

 

So, are we saying that allowing the network adapter, with the specific IP of the PC on the network, it's only allowing the LAN and not the whole internet? This is where the confusion lies with me.

As it happens, once I'd set up the network, I removed the trusted network adapter, and it all still works, but I'd still like to be clearer as to what it means.

 

Correct.

Now that the network is set up it doesn't matter whether the drop-down identifies it or not. You're still using the network adapter, it's just not set as "trusted" from within FSIS. I would think that shutting down the network (right-click option on icon) would stop access to that adapter, hence cutting off connectivity. But you're right, it's not well explained in the help-files, but if it ain't broke...

 

Thanks Monty.

 

What's you're thoughts on FSIS I used 2006 and found it heavy and unusable. The new version, 2008, has added a lot more, and for me, done so more efficiently. Less services running, less slow-down, etc. My ISP notified me of the new version available (thru them) this March... finally!!!

 

I have a love / hate relationship with FSIS, and have done so since 2006, which, as you say, was clunky and sluggish on my PC, but no more so than Norton, which it replaced. It also had one or two other issues, which support were no help with, simply giving the seeming standard "uninstall all your other security programs" response, when in fact, I had already done so. The fact remained that FSIS wouldn't let me shut down my PC unless I unloaded it first. This was becoming tiresome, so I went to Bit Defender for a while, then back to FSIS when 2007 came out. This allowed me to shut down the PC, but would never complete a full system scan, as it always 'stuck' around the same point. There was also an issue with the right click scan, which more often than not, crashed upon use, requiring a reboot to get rid of it. FSIS 2007SP1 was better, in that it would complete a scan, but the right click manual scan then didn't work at all! I have since found out that this is common on XP machines, but it does work fine with Vista. 2008 was better all round, and runs wonderfully on my Vista machine, but still the right click scan doesn't work on XP, so at the moment, on my brand new XP machine, I have the original FSIS 2007 version (not SP1), which, on this machine, does complete a full system scan, and the right click scan also works, but still crashes when it tries to remove anything.

So you can see, I do love FSIS, and keep coming back to it, despite it's bugs, but hate the fact that Support seems to be a bunch of script monkeys, who's only solution to any problems is to uninstall everything else on your machine, because it must be something else causing FSIS not to work properly.

I will be sticking with it, given that I bought 25 licenses off eBay last year, for a very silly price, and am hoping that the 2009 version will be near to perfection.

 

Ditto, and thanx for your response. (Not many FSIS-users so opinions are few.) My issue was with the firewall not liking my network, and refusing to co-operate. Other pc's were fine but not the Xbox. The 2008 FSIS finally allowed Xbox and MediaCenter to communicate. Hopefully 2009 addresses the "sluggishness"...

 

I use F-Secure 2008 on two computers, both of them recent builds with Windows XP Pro.

There is noticeable sluggishness for about a minute after Windows boots. If I open Outlook 2007 during this minute, it invariably hangs and the computer requires a reboot. However, if I'm patient and don't connect to the Internet during this minute, the sluggishness goes away completely. In other words, I have no problem with F-Secure 2008 as long as I wait a minute after Windows starts up before I connect to the Internet.

A few days ago, F-Secure reported a virus on one of my computers, which turned out to be a false positive. I submitted the file to virusscan.jotti.org, and only Kaspersky and F-Secure (which uses the Kaspersky engine) identified a virus (the same virus with each product). I then submitted the file to F-Secure and almost immediately received this response:

A few minutes later, F-Secure issued an update which corrected the problem. Of course, the false positive shouldn't have occurred in the first place, but I am pleased with the rapid response of F-Secure (especially considering that it was nighttime in Finland).

 

Glad to hear you had a more positive experience of Support then me, KWG.

I have another small irritation now, in that although the product is licensed until 11/05/2009, I am still getting the license expiry warning every couple of days, when I start the PC. Anyone know how to stop this?