Best Free Firewall Virus

Hello All,

I'm looking for the best free firewall and virus software out there for Windows XP. And NO I do not want to use the XP built in firewall. Hell M$ can't even make a good operating system, why should I trust them to protect it?

Thnx

Reply to
Robert
Loading thread data ...

Then why are you using it? And why would you tryust anything that sits on such an untrustworthy, IYHO, codebase?

What do you expect for free? E.

Reply to
E.

Installed firewall software, in case you're not aware, does not exist as an entity separate from the operating system. There seems to be a common misconception that firewall software is a separate component which is somehow isolated from the operating system and can thus independently protect the operating system. This is incorrect. The truth is that personal firewall software installs itself using the operating system like any other application. It may dig a lot deeper than the average application, but it still relies on the operating system. Any software that you install on your computer works with the operating system and relies on the operating system. So if you install trusted firewall software on an untrusted operating system then you have an untrusted system. Put another way: untrusted operating system + trusted personal firewall software = untrusted system.

The only way to firewall an untrusted operating system is to install a firewall which does not directly use that operating system. This means using an external firewall box. An external firewall box IS a separate component which IS isolated from the operating system on the computer it's protecting.

So if you want the best free firewall you're all out of luck unless you can get a firewall box for free. You should consider purchasing an external firewall box to protect your untrusted operating system.

I do however recommend installing free virus scanner software. Although a virus scanner also relies on the operating system, it can sometimes (but not always) recognise malware before the malware has a chance to execute and prevent it executing. If the malware has not executed then it cannot interfere with the virus scanner software. You can get a free virus scanner from here:

formatting link
won't bother you with any popups except when it gets its updates (and these are for information only - no answer is required from you).

Personal firewall software *may* tell you that you have malware *after* the malware has executed (and this assumes that you understand the personal firewall's popups - most people don't). If malware has executed then you need to follow Microsoft's advice:

formatting link
the malware is sufficiently clever then don't expect any warning from the firewall software at all. Clever malware running on the same operating system as the personal firewall software has just as much control (maybe more control) of the system as the personal firewall software does. To restrict the amount of control that malware gets (if you get malware) you should be using a user account, not an administrator account, for most of the work you do with your computer.

If a virus scanner finds a virus but is unable to remove it then you should follow the same advice:

formatting link
Be careful when using free online virus scanners as they sometimes attempt to encourage you to spend money by claiming that you have malware when really you don't have anything to worry about at all.

As a home user it is not necessary to spend money on anti-virus software (If you're not a home user then read the virus scanner's license terms).

It is also not necessary to spend money on personal firewall software. Spend it on a firewall box.

If your system is already compromised/infected then installing all the software in the world won't fix it. See Microsoft's advice.

Make sure you update your untrusted operating system as soon as updates become available. Some people seem to feel that if the operating system is untrusted then they shouldn't trust the updates. Big mistake. Get the critical (high priority) updates as soon as they appear.

formatting link
don't recommend getting driver updates from Windows Update unless you are certain that the update applies to your specific hardware or there is a problem with the particular hardware. Visit the hardware manufacturer's web site for driver updates and make sure that the update exactly matches your hardware.

If you don't trust your operating system then, as has already been pointed out, you should ask yourself why you use it. It may be that you have no choice about using Windows, but there are alternatives.

Jason

Reply to
Jason Edwards

Just to be clear, when you load someone else's firewall software, you are depending on M$ to provide the facilities it uses.

-Russ.

Reply to
Somebody.

If you're on a LAN with an ISP connection that uses NAT, you're already on a good firewall, as long as someone hasn't screwed with the port settings.

If not, find someone that's just scrapped a DSL/modem/router becuase he's switched to WiFi, changed service providers, upgraded to 100MB, etc. Any box that does NAT will be an effective firewall for your purposes.

I also recommend a software firewall on each machine to control outgoing traffic. I'm looking for a current recommendation.

For a mobile laptop you've got to depend on a sowtware firewall.

Reply to
Al Dykes

I thank you kindly for your reply. It was very informational and easy to understand.

As I am a Linux users and the wife doesn't want to learn something new I am stuck with a Windows box in my house. :(

I understand clearly your points and the reason for my post was to try and get information from the people that work with Windows regularly. I do have an external firewall Linux box and will be checking the links you have provided.

Again Thnx

Reply to
Robert

Choice. I have no choice in the matter. Wife gets what the wife wants. :)

Reply to
Robert

I understand completely.

Reply to
Robert

Make yourself a bartpe CD.

formatting link
scanning and spyware removal software is available as plugins. You can take the machine off the network and boot from CD if necessary. You may never need to do this but you obviously understand why it's much easier to remove malware from an inactive system. The best course of action is to flatten and rebuild a compromised system. This can be made easy with drive imaging software, so you may never need bartpe.

Backup your wife's computer with drive imaging software once she's happy with it. Make a new image at some suitable time interval. Keep it on a DVD+/-R or two if it's small enough or use a network drive or external usb drive. Then it's a simple matter to go back to a malware free system if it does get malware on it.

formatting link
formatting link
It's a good idea to keep an eye on the level of outbound traffic from the Windows PC but you knew that anyway.

An occasional check with

formatting link
be useful.

Consider alternatives to Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.

Jason

Reply to
Jason Edwards

I share your pain ;->

Cheers, E.

Reply to
E.

OpenBSD for security, FreeBSD for preformance, NetBSD for the toaster.

Reply to
Watson Ladd

Then you should not run Windows any more, if you're not trusting in it, because no "firewall" will be able to protect from the code in Windows' kernel. This is impossible already in theory.

But of course there are many other operating systems in the wild. Just choose one.

Yours, VB.

Reply to
Volker Birk

With Windows this will never work. If the user has one single application or component, which is able to access the Internet, any other application or component can use this one to help it out.

This is because Windows has so many possibilities for IPC and component- ware, which have no security system at all.

This code shows as an example, how to use Windows' message system to ignore any "Personal Firewall" by communicating with the web browser:

formatting link
(for Internet Explorer)
formatting link
(for version 1.0.x)

Even if a manufacturer of "Personal Firewalls" is implementing a security system for Windows messages, then an attacker can use any other possibility for IPC without security, for example COM. Because Zone Labs tried to implement such a security system for Windows messages, I showed example code, how to circumvent this useless trial again. In my sample I'm using COM to ActiveDesktop - but you can easily modify this code for using COM to any other application or component, too, which can communi- cate. You'll find this PoC code here:

formatting link
Because it is so easy to ignore all "outgoing traffic filters" on Windows, I don't think that it is a sensible effort to try.

Microsoft agree to my sight of these things, BTW. Here they're writing:

formatting link
| For the Windows user interface, the desktop is the security boundary. Any | application that is running on the interactive desktop can interact with any | window that is on the interactive desktop, even if that window is not | displayed on the desktop. This behavior is true for every application, | regardless of the security context of the application that creates the | window and regardless of the security context of the application that is | running on the desktop.

Yours, VB.

Reply to
Volker Birk

Yeah, Hehe... and as usual, the wifey is right! LOL!

-Frank

Reply to
Frankster

Thnx for this information. Gives me more to think about. Thnx again.

Reply to
Robert

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.