What Firewall do you Use/Recommend?

[Jeremy]

I've just moved to the security-less suite. No firewall, no AV. I've been running this way for a week now without problems.

I do the same on one of my machines, but it's one that I don't store data on, don't use for banking, etc. People who know what they're doing can get away with it, but as a mod I'm not sure you should be suggesting this is a good idea, without saying why. People new here might follow by example, and get in trouble.

He's not suggesting anything. The way you interpret what he says is up to you, not him.

[Zxian]

I do the same on one of my machines, but it's one that I don't store data on, don't use for banking, etc. People who know what they're doing can get away with it, but as a mod I'm not sure you should be suggesting this is a good idea, without saying why. People new here might follow by example, and get in trouble.

I'm not suggesting that people follow my lead and toss their anti-virus and firewalls out the window - I'm just telling people what I've done.

Security software is really only needed if you think that you're going to make a mistake while on the internet. I've had NOD32 running on my system for a good 2 years now, and it only had to stop one virus - one that was entirely my fault. As for the firewall - I've never really seen Outpost or Sygate block anything deadly serious. The primary use of them was to stop anything from connecting to other computers in the event that my computer was infected, which hasn't been the case.

If you're confident that you have safe internet techniques, then and only then, can you take the risk of running without security software.

[Jeremy]

You know, correct me if I'm wrong, but that really looks like spamming.

[DigeratiPrime]

spam gone

[bledd]

windows sp2 firewall + hardware router, no need for anything else

I've just moved to the security-less suite. No firewall, no AV. I've been running this way for a week now without problems. Outpost started giving me problems when I tried to connect to my university servers, so I went to nothing.

no AV, no spyware protection is the way forward

speeeed

[Zxian]

Indeed - speed is good. It just requires not being silly when it comes to browsing the internet.

[uid0]

I used to run an ipcop box in a house I shared. Didn't stop my housemate Alan from picking up everything available, when his pc finally ground to a halt he'd got 22,000 infected files.

I had to run a software firewall just to keep his machine away from mine

Now I usually only run outpost if I'm trying new software, to see if it does anything unexpected. I'd keep it on permanently if I wasn't behind a router though, or if I still shared a subnet with Alan

[PsycoUnc]

lol, I hear ya, I've never been infected, even tho 95% of the time I don't run AV (and never firewall; router plus smart settings is good enough)... tho I've loaded-up my (dam) nephew's puter (on same subnet) with protection, and he still manages (weekly!) to get more infected than a Roadie...

--and guess who gets to mop it all up, over and over?

...

-Finally, his cs started really lagging from infection/corruption, and I refused to do a reinstall for him, so he's learned his lesson and now stays (relatively) clean... avoids warez, spends at least 1/2 sec thinkin bout it before rapid-fire clicking everything in sight, etc...

>;]

[Jeremy]

What programs do you use to clean up his miss?

[SyntaxError]

I use PC-Cillin IS 2006, but I'm going to setup a Smoothwall box if I can find a new socket 370 mobo for my old pc. I'm also behind a Linksys router.

I've tried at least a dozen different firewall apps, and none offer the control of PC-Cillin.

[mouvda]

look'n'stop is a pretty good firewall, i think.

[sylvianorth]

Used to use Zone Alarm, but then I realised that I didn't need any firewall...

Turned it off a year ago and still no problems.

[Jeremy]

If you're behind a router and know of the following:

Don't open unknown e-mails/attachments

Don't surf pr0n/warez with IE

Don't download archives/EXEs from p2p programs, if you do, scan them with good anti-virus (Kaspersky, NOD32, AntiVir, www.av-comparatives.org

Don't accept everything and anything over MSN

Use harddrive imaging software (Ghost, True Image) or Deep Freeze on public workstations

then you don't really need a software firewall. Zxian and myself have been without one for a while and no problems.

[nitroshift]

At home I was running NOD32 and Outpost Firewall for a while, then decided to see what happens if I get rid of them. For almost a month now, I'm still virus and malware free. (Reinstalled NOD32 yesterday for a scan and found nothing. NOTHING!). I'm behind a DSL router and using common sense.

[Zxian]

@nitroshift - That's been my viewpoint for a while now. Security software should be there for the times when the user makes a mistake. I remember clicking on a picture link on MSN once, and then going "oh crap...". At the time, I had NOD32 installed, and the big red virus alert showed up. It's the only time that I've seen that window.

Security should be primarily up to the user, and secondarily up to the security software.