Sunbelt Kerio With NIPS Or Not?

I've been using Sunbelt Kerio 4 paid version again this past week. My license has expired today, and it's $19.95 to renew for the year. The only thing that the paid version has over the free is, that it includes HIPS and Web Filtering. I don't use the Web Filtering.

I'm thinking of just using it as a free firewall, but I do like the idea of the paid version having NIPS. The possibility of getting nag screens all the time to purchase a new license is not a pleasant thought.

So what do the experts think. Should I go with a free firewall, Kerio4 or any other, without NIPS, or pay for the one year license and have a firewall with HIPS?

If it matters any, I'm using AntiVir PE Premium antivirus.

 

Can you still use kerio even if your license has expired?

 

NIPS still works in the free version of Kerio4. The only things that don't work in the free version are the HIPS and web filtering functions. Only drawback, like you said, is the nag screen. Also, when I used Kerio, I turned the web filtering off as it was redundant. Using s Hosts File or Firefox with Adblock works better than firewall filtering, IMO. Personally, I think a paid firewall is a waste of money, but that's my own opinion on the matter. I've gone to a purely rule-based firewall, which I think works better than an application-based firewall as far as security. If Kerio 4 was more like Kerio 2, I would think about using it again (free version anyway). Also, there are some very good free firewalls out there that use much less resources. Right now, my Softperfect firewall uses about 3MB. Jetico 1 is a very good free firewall, and only uses about 5MB. Ghostwall, another good rule-based firewall, is also very light. There may be some other good ones, but these are the ones that came to mind. Just depends on how comfortable you are at making firewall rules as to which one you would choose.

 

~removed quote from post just above, Stem~

I'm sorry, I meant HIPS. I've made the changes in my original post.

 

Yes you can still use Sunbelt Kerio when the license expires, but without HIPS and Web Filtering. I didn't use the Web Filtering, but I did use HIPS feature

 

I think one of the main concerns would be that (if I remember correctly) is that the application integrity control is disabled in the "free" version (no checksum/hash)

 

If you mean the application behavior blocking, it is not disabled in the free version. Sorry if I'm misunderstanding you.

 

I thought this was disabled in the free version. Looks like my memory may be faulty, sorry, old age ya know. I will re-check

EDIT:
Yes, I stand corrected. On checking, I think it was down to the fact that this is not enabled by default that had stuck in my memory. Sorry for my error.

 

No need to say sorry. I have those senior moments also.