Using Kerio 4.2.2 free, worth paying for the HIPS, and web protection, etc... ?

I found the best firewall for me on this computer: 4.2.2 - no crashes, no lockups, so far, sooo good.

The new company that bought the firewall is offering the paid version for $15 U.S. That is really cheap. I would only be gaining the HIPS and web features.

What do you think of those ? Is the HIPS good ? I probably won't use their pop-up blocker but it seems like a cheap way to get HIPS.

I pretty much have every other base covered except HIPS....

avast home
spyware guard / blaster
MSAS
router
Kerio 4.2.2
BOClean

 

I bought it today. HIPS will block code injection, and bufferoverflow. Is it worth 15 $ ? Well, i don´t know. It will not bug you whith alerts all the time, like some freeware app´s, but it will propably do it´s job, and block trojan attacks.

New version 4.2.3 here http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm

 

I purchased the new Sunbelt Kerio product and have been using it for about a week. I used Zone Alarm for quite a while, but used Kerio in the past and really like the way it is set up. Having used the ZA Pro on a trial, I have to say that I like Kerio much better, and is more user friendly. Personally, I think the paid version is well worth the original $45 it used to cost. But with the current deal of $14.95 with a $9.95 renewal, that was too good for me to pass up. After installing Kerio, I was using all of the features just to try it out and see how it worked, but I turned off the behavior blocking feature, as it was way too intrusive and slowed my system down considerably. I realize that it is a good security measure, but was much too bothersome for me. With all of the nasty stuff running around on the Internet today, I think the NIPS and HIPS features are almost a necessity. I can't remember if the NIPS feature is present in the free version, but I know the HIPS feature is not. I also like the features of blocking ads and scripts. It is very simple just to check or uncheck a box in order to enable or disable certain things. I did use AnalogX Script Defender with Zone Alarm, but find that disabling or enabling scripts with Kerio is much easier. I surf with all scripts disabled, but if I go to a site where I need Javascript enabled, all I have to do is uncheck the box in Kerio - very user friendly. I don't know that the ad-blocking is all that effective. It only blocks ads once in a while. However, I also run a hosts manager that blocks a ton of ads, so possibly Kerio is only blocking the ads that get by the Hosts Manager - don't know how all that works. Personally, I think there are more options with Kerio than there were with Zone Alarm Pro, at least that I can remember. Bottom line is that you can't beat the price. Also, I have dealt for some time now with Sunbelt Software (also run Counterspy) and their customer service and support is outstanding! That really added to my decision to purchase the product.

 

NIPS feature is present in free version.

 

Kerio 4.2.2 have crashed on my system... , but when I tried the new Sunbelt-Kerio it just works fine. But, I think its HIPS feature slowed down my system noticeably, and maybe it has some kind of "un-noticed" conflicts w my other HIPS programs as I also have ProcessGuard and GhostSecurity Suite.

Kerio is one of the best firewall that I know... but I could not trade-in the effect that it has on my system. So I uninstalled it, maybe I'll install and try it again if I already have a bigger memory of RAM.

 

HIPS vs good ol´Copycat

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/9346/blockedcopycat9tp.png

 

Eeem,I didn't get that...

Could some generous soul explain what the author wished to say?
And more in general,anyone would like to comment a bit more if the HIPS protection is actually something worth paying for?

Personally it's the only feature of the paid version that I'd care since web filtering is already covered by FF and it's extensions to a degree that suits me.

I've been running 4.2.3 for a couple of weeks and frankly till now I've had only 2 "attacks" in the HIPS log which most probably were new codecs loaded in MediaPlayer.

So,is HIPS worth it's money?

ps.And about copycat.From the searching I've been doing it's supposed to be a firewall tester right?Well,I dowloaded it but Avast keeps complaining that it's a trojan so I ain't sure what's happening here.