Something like Kerio 2.1.5 but newer?

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by subferno, Dec 3, 2008.

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  1. subferno

    subferno Registered Member

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    I have been using Kerio 2.1.5 for over 6 months and I love it.

    Unfortunately, I may be upgrading my OS soon (Vista, Windows 7, who knows) and I am afraid of any incompatibilities with this great program. One such conflict that most people know of is PerfectDisk.

    Are there any other free recommended firewalls like Kerio that is free and more recent? Agnitum Outpost was a past favorite until I found out how light Kerio is. It needs to be rules based with customizable rules on the fly when any inbound/outbound request is made, like Outpost and Kerio.

    Thanks for any suggestions.
     
  2. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Well, there is the newer Kerio, v4.xx, you could disable the built-in rules and use your own or import the Kerio 2.1.5 rules. It's free also, less a minor feature or two after 30 days.

    Look n Stop is also half-rule based. Jetico also comes to mind. Unfortunately, there aren't really many like old Kerio 2.1.5, and it's days are pretty much limited or gone now.....

    You might like Jetico after a brief learning curve and adjustment to the interface orientation....
     
  3. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

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    if u want something rule based and very light, i suggest Look N Stop.
     
  4. vijayind

    vijayind Registered Member

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    I agree with Kerodo on Jetico.
    Also Softperfect Personal Firewall, come to mind. Its also light and highly configurable. It can run on Vista 64 also and is free.
     
  5. Einsturzende

    Einsturzende Registered Member

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    Can it recognize and filter by applications or there is only global rules? :doubt:
     
  6. Matern

    Matern Registered Member

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    On Vista you can use Vista Firewall Control. It is a GUI for the build in Firewall and make it easy to setup outgoing aplications etc.
     
  7. subferno

    subferno Registered Member

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    I have tried LNS years ago but it intimadated me, maybe due to the lack of experience I had back then. I might give it a shot.
     
  8. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

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    thats the exact reason i stopped using it, all the rules confused me
     
  9. Pedro

    Pedro Registered Member

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    LnS and Jetico are pretty much the best, at least that's my impression when trying them (granularity etc), but CFP has it's own advantages when it comes to usability (no Defense+).

    One thing i never quite understood in LnS was/is application control. I loved the granularity, hated not understanding app control. Maybe i need to give it more time.
    Jetico has a different arch. but logical. Has weird defaults perhaps.
    CFP is simple to use, but you start noticing some things over time that you know will take a loong time to fix/add. Defense+ is the main focus, though you could say the same regarding Jetico - Matousec screwed us, i know that now.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2008
  10. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    There is also Filseclab:

    http://www.filseclab.com/eng/products/firewall.htm

    It's completely rule based also, like Kerio 2. It hasn't been updated since 2005 I think, but it should be fine on XP. Give it a try also. No bets on whether it works on Vista though... ;)
     
  11. Fly

    Fly Registered Member

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    If I'm not mistaken, Sunbelt acquired the Kerio firewall and 'improved upon it' ? (or maybe not ?). For as far as I know the firewall isn't free, but I think there is a free fully featured trial.
     
  12. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    There is the usual fully featured 30 day trial, then it reverts to the "free" version minus a feature or two, not even important ones IMO. Sunbelt Kerio 4 has a completely different interface, so in that respect it's not like kerio 2, also it's heavier by far than Kerio 2 was. But you can still use Kerio 2 rule sets in Kerio 4, with a bit of tweaking and adjusting. Or you can just use the built-in rules and have yourself a fairly simple and easy to use application firewall. So it IS a possiblity.
     
  13. vijayind

    vijayind Registered Member

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    I think you are asking about Softperfect .... Well, yes it can. It even has a learning mode incase you want to make standard rules in a jiffy.
     
  14. doug6949

    doug6949 Registered Member

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    I've been using Kerio 4.2.0 since it was released and have yet to see any reason to change. This was the last free version IIRC. I think it is also the most stable version of Kerio

    The features that die after 30 days are not worth buying. I usually turn them off when I install so the software doesn't bug the user.

    Don't forget to turn off the check for updates box or it will try to install Sunbelt Kerio. That program dies if you don't buy it.

    I've installed Kerio on at least 20 machines without any problems.
     
  15. GES/POR

    GES/POR Registered Member

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    Privatefirewall can run on vista as well
     
  16. TheSpirit

    TheSpirit Registered Member

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    True. I have used Kerio 4.2.2 and Sunbelt/Kerio 4.3, both excellent products. The Sunbelt version runs the free version after 30 days, just like the old Kerio version. I believe that they both import old 2.1.5 rules, though I haven't tested that. In that case, they would be 2.1.5 plus more!

    I have also experimented with the NIPS SNORT rules, after a new source for rules has emerged:

    http://www.emergingthreats.net/.

    This can be challenging. Do you have any experience with SNORT rules?
     
  17. act8192

    act8192 Registered Member

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  18. doug6949

    doug6949 Registered Member

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    I stand corrected as regards Sunbelt.

    Not familiar with the SNORT rules. KPF 4.2.0 works so well I've more-or-less stopped thinking about security. It takes me so long to get comfortable with software that I hesitate to try anything new.
     
  19. TheSpirit

    TheSpirit Registered Member

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    Actually, you already have some small SNORT rulesets in your HIPS module. They can be displayed in the Advanced/Details sections. The help file contains more info on this.
     
  20. act8192

    act8192 Registered Member

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    the rules are here
    C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\Personal Firewall\Config\IDSRules
    and in the UI see
    Intrusions, NIPS,Advanced,Details for three severity levels
     
  21. subferno

    subferno Registered Member

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    So those several threads about Outpost and their lifetime license got me tempted to go back to using it again. I had great experiences with Outpost 3 and 4 back then. But man, using Outpost 2009 was a drag on my system. I am glad I trialed it before assuming that I would have the same experience as before and forked the money over.

    I also tried out Sunbelt with some bad issues as well. For some reason everytime I make a change in the settings and apply them, the firewall just freezes up and stalls my entire system. Sux.

    I am moving on to the other suggestions posted in this thread now.
     
  22. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    I don't know why, but installing and uninstalling a lot of software firewalls seems to have a tendency or potential to hose one's system at times. Back a few years when I was in firewall trial mode, it happened many a time. When you start to see weird things going on, you have to keep this in mind, as it may not be the product you're currently trialing, but something else in the system that's hosed. If you want to sample a lot of firewalls, it's best to start with a clean setup, and then image it, then revert to the image after each trial. Sounds anal, but that's the only way to really keep things clean. Same can be said for AVs or other software, but for some reason, in my experience, firewalls tend to nuke things pretty easily.
     
  23. subferno

    subferno Registered Member

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    That is quite understandable. I was actually wanting to test several FW before I reload my OS.

    I trialed SoftPerfect FW and it looked decent. Very fast and clean. Only issue I have with it is that the alerts tend to pop up in the background and it doesn't say which application is triggering it. Show stopper for me. :(

    My search continues...
     
  24. entropism

    entropism Registered Member

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    As far as light firewalls, try Webroot's free one, based off of Privacyware's paid firewall. There was a HUGE memory leak, but it turned out it was Vista's fault, and there's a patch out from Microsoft that fixes it.
     
  25. subferno

    subferno Registered Member

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    I decided to visit the Agnitum forums to figure out why Outpost was causing my PC to act so sluggish. I found out that the self protect feature was the culprit. Disabling that allowed my PC to run like normal again.

    So it looks like I will be returning to Outpost again. Lets hope it goes well for Windows 7...
     
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