New version 2.05 beta 01.

hehe - the problem is actually a tad more complicated, I think:

A trojan can modify a thread in an open process to access the Net, sure enough that's a cause for concern. But there are far greater threats as well!

For example, could the trojan modify a thread to make it, say, delete all files on the HDD, or format the HDD, or damage the CMOS, or even FLASH THE BIOS? (yipes! mega-nightmares again )

If so, a firewall (or whatever we may call it) should be able to recognize all possible threats, not just leaks.

 

what you are saying is not suposed to be handle by a firewall, the threat could delete directly all your files...

But the purpose of a trojan is to provide an access to someone else, not to delete your entire hardrive.
The purpose of a virus is to duplicate, if into each computer it infects it destroy all, it won't really spread

But the fact that a trojan can use a trusted application like Copycat is something that ideally should be handle by a firewall.

 

Sure. Maybe. But U know what, I could swear that that's what the Zonelabs guys think about ZA, the Sygate guys about SPF, the Agnitum guys about Outpost, Symantec guys about NIS...

The point is, only users or independent firewall reviewers can be given credit when making such statements - makes sense, too. No doubt U do believe what you say, but I'm sure you understand that objectivity is crucial

U see, I have about 6 different firewalls (inc. LnS) and keep changing the one I use. Take it as a caprice if U wish, but the fact is EACH FIREWALL HAS ITS OWN BENEFITS - and drawbacks.

I like ZA's multiple "bonuses" (anti-popup, cookie-killer, script-blocking - VERY useful stuff) and its new 'Application monitoring' option, Outpost's even greater number of "bonus" features (flash popup blocking), LnS and Sygate's low CPU and RAM usage (esp. during online GAMING),... I dislike ZA and Outpost's famous memory leaks, the lack of extra features in LnS & SPF (privacy, anti-popup, ...),...

..and the list could go on.

Every firewall will have assets that some others lack. If a vendor was to release a "super-firewall" - one that will comprise all the advantages of the others, minus the drawbacks (I'd call it the Holy Grail ), this would mean certain death for the competitors, if they failed to follow in promptly.

BTW, notwithstanding an eventual "anti-copycat-trojan" upgrade, are there any plans to include privacy, ad-killing and script-blocking features into LnS in the immediate future? These are minor features I agreee, but U bet they would be greatly appreciated

 

I don't think they would, because LnS is wanted to be light, and just a firewall.
In addition, for each user a firewall is something different, me i don't care of any web stuff that i handle with other software/methods.

If you are interested in handling popup/cookies stuff, personally i'm happy with Mozilla FireBird browser


But of course only Fredric can answer to your question

 

I can define a Software Firewall.
I can’t define how Popup/Cookies handling and so on correspond with a Software Firewall, matter of fact likewise for even Application Filtering Filtering.

There were numerous reasons why I choose Look ‘n’ Stop, and few reasons are Look ‘n’ Stop is by far one of the most

* Easiest on System Resources
* Smallest
* Stable
…

Now when I see potentials in a product I dedicate myself to it, saves a lot of grief in the long run. As much as dedicated myself to Look ‘n’ Stop I’d drop it in a heart-beat the moment Popup-Cookie Handling and so on became implemented which turns a very good potential Software Firewall into bloat-ware and which cripples everything I believe a Software Firewall should be.

Personally I like to use products created by different individuals with knack which deals in a specific field, I see the Nicety of this, I’m sorry you don’t…

 

... in short, this means 'No' to my last question

umm ... another solution would be to implement such extra features as anti-cookie, anti-popup, etc... but let the user switch 'em on/off at will - simple, isn't it? Read my previous post again - I referred 2 these features as minor "bonus" options, implying that OF COURSE they don't perform 'firewall' functions as such! Even though YOU use a firewall without such extra options, I bet U still do resort to, say, a seperate popup-killer app, right? So why not have it all-in-one?

I don't see how these features could "bloat up" an FW app - especially if as I said they can be switched off. It's not like we're talking about built-in DivX encoders or something...
U get anti-popup apps as freeware on the web that take less than 100Kb - and each of these apps has about as much impact on your system as a marshmallow thrown at an M1A2 tank. Anti-popup & privacy options certainly can't be the reason for the memory leaks that plague Outpost & ZA (it would be too simple & too good to be true). Besides, if I recall correctly (haven't used Kerio 4 a while), Kerio uses hardly any more resources than LnS, yet it also has built-in popup, cookie & script blockers (True, I don't make much of Kerio's outbound protection, though...)

Face it comrade, "multiware" would be a more appropriate term than "bloatware". Willing to set up another poll? "How many users would like to have privacy, ad-blocking & script-blocking built into their firewall app?" I wouldn't be surprised if the majority were to share my opinion

Besides, such extra features was only one my "auxiliary" requests, so you needn't have harped on it.
"Much ado about nothing" they say...

And since you seem to prefer the other way ("simpleware" or whatever you may call it), an you suggest a good freeware app that combines ad-blocking, script-blocking and cookie-blocking all in one? Like I said, there are more than one similar apps on the Net, but which one would U suggest? For example, which one do you personally use in conjunction with LnS?

 

Mozilla

 

I've heard of Modzilla - but it's a japanese browser .

I just use good old IE.

I was talking about a simple little app, that is, not part of a bigger prog (such as FW, browser, ...).

Actually, these are not that easy to find - U get ad-killers, privacy-enforcers, script-blockers, but never all 3 in 1... Perhaps you may have heard of one? (PS. it has to be small, and free )

 

Morgoth,

I've had the same debate with Phant0m a few weeks ago:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=16772

I agree, these features would definitely be nice as long as they are kept seperated from the main code (e. g. via plug-ins!).

I'm using Ad Muncher (http://www.admuncher.com) as the "simple little 3 in 1 app". It's very small and fast. It's only free for the first 30 days but easily worth its money. (You can get the latest beta version at IRC (EFNet) #admuncher).

@Frederic: will there be a german version of 2.05 beta x?

 

Plug-In are fine, separate Application fine, however I rather use utility like AdMuncher which is unique and incredibly strong filtering system that deals with many aspects.

Klaus, you surely know how to pick web-Filtering Systems

 

Right U are, Klaus

Plug-ins would be the best compromise - part of the app, yet without being part of it.

Don't get me wrong, though: web filtering & ad-blocking are a perfect addon for firewalls, but I certainly don't endorse so-called "security programs" that comprise several MAIN applications, all-in-one, for example Anti-trojan, Anti-Virus & Firewall - 3 sub-programs of "equivalent level", all in one - now THAT's bloatware - not to mention the danger of having some malicious code terminate the app, thus neutralizing ALL protections in one shot. Layered protection is always the best choice


Ad Muncher, eh ?

Sounds interesting, but ... wait one ... hey, 25$ for about 150kb? Man, that's the most Xpensive Kbytes I've seen so far -this had better be a good prog.

Anyways, I'll check it out - just a byte

 

Hey Morgoth

Don’t let the size fool yea, take Look ‘n’ Stop for an example
AdMuncher is very unique filtering system and as I said earlier very strong packet filtering system.

 

hmmm ... launched Muncher 4 the 1st time, and according to my current FW, it already tried to connect to the Net AND even act as a server, B4 I'd even started my browser!!! Strange, for even my FIREWALL needs no Net access, not to mention server rights, even with privacy & ad-blocking enabled. Paranoid I probably am, but suspecting spyware activity here, or some other malicious intent, God knows what ... *terrible outburst of rage* ... uninstalling software.

I'm looking for a freeware tool now. I know there are such free, small yet efficient apps out there (perhaps better than Muncher), but difficult to find the right one - more difficult than I initially thought, anyways...

BTW, when will the official (non-beta) LnS 2.05 be available?

 

Wrong!

Best method of filtering pop-ups and so forth is to use Local Proxy Server that acts as “Middle-Man” between your Client Applications & Internet, thus means for basic connections to remote servers via port 80tcp the Ad-Muncher or Local Proxy server Software will be seen making the connections instead of the Internet Explorer and whatever. Also Ad-Muncher has Update capabilities for both Application and server-supplied lists.

Also what makes this program unique from the rest;

 

The current 2.05 beta1 will become 2.05 beta2 or 2.05 official on March, Frederic said it

 

Oh, it's a proxy server or something. I've heard of such apps before - Steganos Anonymizer (ultra-SLOW!), Stealth Anonym (faster) & so on...

Well I had a friend test the Muncher (I don't bother anymore, removed it - for now I'll jus' settle for a standard & freeware ad-blocker, without proxies & stuff )

True enough he told me about a 'Scramble IP' option or sometin, and when enabling it, his IP seemed to be hidden while surfing on many IP-revealing sites, EXCEPT ONE: Steve Gibson's grc.com site, which kept showing his true IP. Heh, these are clever guys at grc, it seems.

I even looked for such an app once myself, that wuz some time ago, but for MAILING purposes only, wanting to send (fully) anonymous emails to some friends on April 1st

Apparently, proxy server apps - at least those I've heard of - only seem to be able to hide a user's IP while he's browsing, not mailing or anything else...

 

You can't really hide your IP, because if you could, no information could be sent back to you (web, mails, etc...).
You must give a valid IP to a website to receive information, and what this kind of proxy does, is to emty a cell of the HTTP header where your IP is written, but your IP is still written in the IP header, fortunaly.

The only way i know to better hide his IP to websites is to go trought real proxy on the Internet (so the IP seen is the proxy one not yours) but a website downloading a script on your computer (like the symantec scan does) will still be able to see your IP.

The only real way to hide is to send a spoofed packet without expecting to see any traffic back to us.

And to get back to Look'n'Stop, like Phant0m i prefer it like it is currently, light

 

OT, caught the tail end of this conversation...

if it doesn't help don't use

1 word 4 syllables

Proxomitron

gives you 3 in 1 & more and is free

if you use it out of the box, you will get all you need.

http://www.proxomitron.info/files/index.shtml

use the June version of 4.5

more info: http://www.proxomitron.info/

another source here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/prox-list/files/

you have to register for the Proxomitron forum at Yahoo to use their download.

Once you get the hang of it explore other filter sets such as AltoSax filter set - which includes the Jax's IP spoofer... web bug killers, iframe killers, activeX killers and much more.

http://www.computercops.biz/downloads-file-149.html

if you use Proxo, make sure your firewall loopback rules are set up properly, the following link will also help you set up your DNS rules also...

Loopback DNS & other Rules

some more tips here (post#11 page 2):

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=5367;start=15#bot

proxo will not be able to help you spoof your email.

if you are looking to improve your safety on-line change your browser ( really nice light aps like Opera & Firebird)

back to LNS thread topic

 

Hier.
This is still subject to improvements but is working so far. (PM me with suggestions if you have some)
I've sent the file to Frédéric as well, I suppose it will be in the next release or available as a download as soon as the website is finished.
Phant0m, you may want to grab a copy of it for your languages download section as well?

On a sidenote, I think that we'll see a next release before March - just because there are so few issues appearing. March is just the date that the beta will expire, so it's the last possible release date for a follow-up release.

CU,
Andreas

 

Hey Andreas(W)

Thanks, that is correct.
Excellent Job Andreas(W), I’ll add that beautiful work shortly after plugin_language.dll becomes updated.

Btw; if you make any modifications could you please contact me by any means for notification purposes, Thanks!

 

Hello

An observation!

On my machine (XP Home) the sorting on Application Name in Application Filtering does not stick after a close and re-open.

Anyone else find this?

 

Yes, me.

It was a beta-tester test

Actually, the sorting state is not saved, since one click only is required to sort again, I don't know if it is very important...

Frederic

 

Ah!

My vote would be for the sorting-state to be saved as this would bring LnS into line with a lot of other software in this respect.

 

Sorry, a further point.

One click sorts into descending order, if you want ascending order it's two clicks!

 

i add too my whish list

that would be fine, is :
- to save columns sorting
- to save columns width and size
- to add a column to see which app has filters, which has not

For the last point, i mean that actually, we can't see at first glance if apps has TCP/UDP IP/ports filters (=filtered), or not (= full access).
I would like to have a small column with a small icon just to say if the app has full access to the Internet, or if filters are defined for it.