Please recommend a good firewall

I bought a license of Outpost back in 2005, and I had problems with some websites that nobody at their forum could solve (people say the latest version is great).

Then I got Look'n'Stop with XP which is a pure firewall and very light indeed, I never had a problem with it (for me not to have a problem means not to interfere too much in what I'm doing, I'm completely ignorant about rules, protocols, etc) I still have it but on my Vista machine.

I also had Comodo for a while and liked very much the HIPS module which I used as a simple anti-executable. The reason I uninstalled it from my XP machine is that my wife finds it too difficult to deal with when she occasionally uses the computer, which lead me to the last candidate, the Windows XP firewall. As my XP machine runs constantly virtualized, Windows own firewall is enough IMO. It's been on for 9 months now, and the computer runs flawlessly (even though it is the machine occasionally used by my wife and relatives -the most dangerous types- as they download anything anytime).

 

I also use the XP Firewall and always recommend it for everyone who asks. It's simple, does what it's meant to do(inbound filtering)and doesn't need constant tuning.

The thing is, people should focus on where the real problem is, which is malware installing in the first place and modificating the OS, and not try to block some holes regarding outbound network protection hoping to keep the malware in and not leak out. Outbound protections in software firewalls that don't have HIPS are easily bypassable.

I use AV+traditional HIPS+Windows firewall combination. Usually recommend avast!+Threatfire+Windows firewall for someone who has less experience with these, though most of the people would do just fine with an AV+Windows firewall.

 

The HIPS you use (Neova Guard) seems to have vanished.
It is correct?

Regards,
François

 

It isn't developed anymore, but works fine for me and has lots of features and protection options. This version is from 2007.

 

Thanks.
But I can't download it since the website is no longer available.

 

http://www.smokey-services.eu/forum/viewforum.php?f=128

You should register there and download from their links.

The program starts in learning mode and after that all new applications will be in "restricted group" by default, unless you select to trust the application. For trusted applications, all actions are allowed. You can also have some specified actions allowed for an application but not have it completely trusted, it's very configurable.

It also features this "violation score" system, if some application exceeds it's violation score, neoava will quarantine the application. You can also protect your important folders, programs and files if you want add them to "secured" list.

Here are pictures of my ruleset and some other pictures: http://risl.codename.fi/neoava.rar My "rules" are identical to "restricted rules."

 

Thanks!

 

Thx interesting, how does NG stand against Comodo Leak Test?