Outpost firewall.

hello forum.
Im currently using online armor as my firewall.
Could anyone tell me please how good outpost firewall is and is there a free version.?
Kind regards.

 

I haven't used Outpost in quite some time.
But heres a couple of links for free versions.

Outpost Security Suite free which includes a FW
http://free.agnitum.com/

Slightly outdated version of Outpost Firewall free......
http://majorgeeks.com/Outpost_Firewall_Free_d1056.html

 

Just my two cents....Stick with OA. By all means give outpost a try but I think OA is a better firewall. Again just my opinion.

 

IMO I think out post is a good Firewall but In my experience over several attempts of installation with the free version has to be one of the slowest installation I have tried for firewalls and had some errors as well.Twice on a vista system and once recently on windows 7 both 32 bit.AFAIK the free version of OP is on lower priority for updates then there Paid version.

Online Armor takes a little time to install as well but never once have I had any problems with the installation or uninstalling of OA and has always run well for me. If I am not mistaken the free gets updated equally as the premium does.

To be honest I am more biased to OA but your milage may very.The only true way is to try them both, one at a time of course to see which one fits your criteria better.Good luck.

 

hi
Thank you for the replies and im going to stick with what i know.
Online armor has had a lot of good reviews.
Im a little puzzled as to how you determine whether a firewall is good or bad?
Yes ive visited firewall testing sites such as shields up and pc flank but how accurate are these?
I notice with shields up that there are a lot of zone alarm bias.
Maybe the software companies are paying this site to give good results.
I dont have a lot of faith in these testing sites .
On that basis how do i the end user test my firewall for myself?

Kind regards.

 

Hi Beethoven1770,

I'm currently using Windows 7 built-in firewall, but I have tried both OA Free and Outpost Free when I was using Windows XP.

What I like from OA free, is that you may always audit all software installed on your machine, the wizard definitely helps in determining the trust-level for each software installed on the machine. I also like the functionality that allows you to lower the 'rights' of a certain application, like restricting the rights of internet-facing applications. Overall it's a great firewall.

I also liked Outpost Free (I didn't use the suite, but used the standalone 6.5.1 verson), it has a more granular control of applications and its interaction with your system. For me, it's simpler to use.

Both consume around the same amount of resources (CPU, virtual mem) and both are Class A firewalls. IMHO.

Wtih regards to testing, inbound testing should be pretty straight forward, as you already know how to do it (Shields up, PC Flank, etc.). You may also do outbound testing/HIPS testing. I believe there are two popular testing suites out there, one is the Comodo one and the other is the SpyShelter one (not sure where to download those, but I suppose using Google search might help). There is also the shutdown test, to see if your HIPS will contain that.

Good luck!

 

32 of them here, some for FW, some for HIPS, some for both.
http://www.testmypcsecurity.com/securitytests/all_tests.html

 

all firewall are pretty much same no diffrence between outpost or online armor on firewall core

yes diffrence is in extra security feature as OA and outpost free OA offer more but main reason should be what you comfortable to use i use outpost and i am pretty happy with it because i have habit of setting it and tweaking it same with others

so use what you know and feel comfortable with

 

This is a classic example of misinformation (too much of that on Wilders' firewall board).
Testing inbound filtering is anything but straightforward. You are referring to testing firewalls against scans, which is not the same as testing them for inbound filtering. In fact, it is very different.

A firewall is first and foremost an inbound filter. If it does not filter inbound packets according to RFC standards, then all other features (outbound filtering, HIPS etc.) are completely irrelevant, and the firewall is bad.

You would need at least 2 PCs connected with a patch cable (open connection, not through a router). #1 to send packets crafted with a packet builder, and #2 to install a tested firewall on. #2 would also need to have a sniffer installed to check for packets not filtered by the firewall. This method is prone to false results, as the firewall could be silently blocking (without logging) packets, thus not registered by the sniffer.

The only reliable method involves 3 PCs, where in fact #3 will use a sniffer to catch packets sent from #1 to #2 (#2 would need to have 2 NICs, to connect all 3 of them "inline"). It is not an easy task for an inexperienced user, and it also assumes some knowledge in TCP/IP.

 

Outpost and Online Armor are fine specimens
I have used Outpost for years and love it
I would suggest to trial it before you buy and see what you think
Agnitum free version is wonderful also

 

I have tried the comodo firewall but it is too advanced for my liking and i found the forum of theirs not very forthcoming with help.
I like online armor as it is simple to use.
and certainly i will give the outpost firewall a try out.
As i said before i dont like some of comodo,s products,they are released far too early and are very buggy.

Regards.

 

Agreed, I was referring to online scans (Ping, open TCP ports, etc.). Thanks for this informative post, this actually helps further the discussion on firewalls in general.

 

its incompatible with most av's and my last attempt to install it gave me a BSOD which i found to be rare in 7.
the warning are annoying and the configuration is a bit confusing.
OA is way better and yet i suggest CFW.

 

I was not attempting to discredit your post, I was simply trying to once again point out that checking your firewall/perimeter (router) against online scans just deals with unsolicited packets. There are many cases where solicited packets have no place on a PC (bad/malformed) so there is a greater need to check how a firewall filters these than to check how does it fare against unsolicited.
There is nothing wrong with scan tests however, the fault is on users who prefer to lull themselves than to take time to actually understand.
(beating it to death now, I'll stop)

 

No worries, your post is very well thought of, so it should be good It makes perfect sense to read/understand the inner-workings of firewalls better.

 

I like unsolicited packets, life without them would be sad and boring, I swear.

 

Outpost security suite works just fine. I have used it quite effectively. Installing the firewall with the AV disabled (on demand) sometimes does lead to incompatibility issues with other AVs. I see no reason not to use the free security suite. Online Armor has caused me many issues from slow computers to Vm Ware not working. The free version does not offer registry protection or dns spoofing protection. I am unsure if Outpost is comparable in this regard. I do use Online Armor in Virtual machines it seems to work really well with Avast Free . I sense that both of these programs really are acting more as a Hips program since I do have a router.

 

Please note, Outpost update..
Outpost 7.5.3 Delivers Security for Java 7
Updated anti-malware boasts improved performance, enhanced firewall compatibility with IPv6

St. Petersburg, Russia — June 6, 2012. The Internet Security experts at Agnitum are pleased to announce the release of Outpost Pro Version 7.5.3 (Performance Edition), featuring support for Java 7, MySQL, and Windows Remote Desktop when using IPv6 under Windows 7.

Additional enhancements include:
Upgraded anti-virus (anti-malware) engine with memory consumption reduced by approximately 20%
More efficient database format, significantly decreasing the size of the anti-malware database
Key bug fixes in v7.5.3 include:

The anti-malware engine no longer crashes when it encounters hacked UPX samples on 64-bit systems
Detections missed by the x64 version of the anti-malware engine but caught by the x86 version have now been resolved; detections now apply across all platforms
For more information and to download Outpost Pro 7.5.3, please visit the
Agnitum website http://www.agnitum.com/lp/download-outpost-7-5-internet-security.php

http://www.agnitum.com/news/2012-06-06-outpost-7-5-3-release.php

 

I was testing Outlook Pro Firewall at the request of my buddy Hayc59 but for some odd reason that I can't figure, it won't allow the computer to come properly out of "standby mode" on my XP Pro SP3 machine.

I can hear activity in the background and see the indicator lights but the display won't come one regardless of pushing buttons or using the mouse.

A hard reset was required.

I tried changing the power scheme from an Asus utility back to Windows (Home/Office Desk) but it still did the same thing when I tried to come out of "standby".
(This is not the case with PrivateFirewall, Online Armor or Comodo on this machine.)

It's too bad as the app had some features I liked but for now it's just not a viable choice for me if I'm going to have to shut down or use a hard reset to use my computer the way I want.