Firewall/Secruity

Suede-y · May 10th, 2005

hey guys, I am wondering what would be the best FREE firewall. I just downloaded zonealarm and it works great but i am curious if there is anything that will do the job well that takes up less system resources. I also got AVG free edition and am very happy with it. Will these 2 applications keep my computer safe??? I have Mcafee virus scan on and i am not sure if i need AVG and Mcafee running at the same time. Really, i am just trying to keep as much power as possible. Thanks guys.

***Monster_user*** · May 10th, 2005

Well, I still recommend you get SpywareBlaster, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE.

Those programs will help a lot. Then stop using Internet Explorer. (although a new Firefox bug was found recently...).

Then you may need to do one more thing. This one will cost money. You need to have a router, or hardware firewall, in-between your PC, and the internet. A hardware firewall is more secure than a software firewall. I still recommend running a Software firewall, so that any hacker, or script that gets through your firewall, cannot find anything behind it.

Get all those, and you'll have the same security I use.

War Hawk · May 10th, 2005

That would be the same security i have aswell minus SpywareBlaster.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monster

(although a new Firefox bug was found recently....)

mind filling me in on that?

***Monster_user*** · May 10th, 2005

A bug was found in the iframes tags for Firefox 1.03. That allows a javascript to to be executed, and run with escalated priviledges.

Its recommended that you disable Javascripts. No actual exploit of this bug has been reported, but a proof of concept test has been performed.

***Agent_0range*** · May 11th, 2005

I found that Sygate Personal Firewall works very well and takes up hardly any system resources, as there isnt a full control centre with it, unlike McAfee or something similar. Ive never had any problems with my combination of Sygater Firewall, AVG Antivirus, Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Registry Mechanic 4 and my Router Firewall.

Suede-y · May 11th, 2005

Monster, I have SpybotSD , Adaware SE, Microsoft anti-spyware, and Hijack this as programs but i dont run a scan with start up. I usally run a scan every other day. I have a linksys router and windows firewall and zone alarms firewall which i am quite pleased with. I also have AVG and Mcafee virus scan yet i recently turned off mcafee for startup. The only two things i have running at startup are my AVG and zone alarms . Also, firefox is, has and forever will be my browser

I turned off java script yet some internet things do not work properly so i turned it back on.

So i am pretty sure i have everything i need. The applications that i do not run at startup always get used at least every other day.

Last question though, Should i switch from zonealarms to Sygate Personal Firewall and will i stll be very safe , yet take up less system resources???

I appreciate everything you guys have mentioned.

Suede

***Monster_user*** · May 11th, 2005

http://www.google.com/search?q=Sygat...en-US:official

Take a look at all the threads on Sygate vs Zone Alarm.

It appears that Zone Alarm slows down the internet connection. I'm suprised that I never noticed that. Newer versions also seem to use more system resources, for the "extra features". Anti-Virus monitoring, Spam blocking, Ad blocking, Preventing web sites from changing your home page. Preventing your friends/kids from changing your browser settings, etc...

Sygate appears to use less resources, but has a few issues with the interface.

They appear to be head to head. Except for the extra features, in Zone Alarm. AV monitoring, is a feature I like, but it doesn't work with AVG.

Popup blocking is a good feature, but Firefox and IE 6SP2 have Popup blocking. So Sygate may be worth a try, they provide about the same level of security.

Suede-y · May 11th, 2005

Alrgiht thats cool. I am running Sygate right now and am happy with it. Its nice to have the two options and once i get the feel for both, i am going to make my decision
on which i will use. It is nice to know both will offer good secuirty firewall wise. I use mozilla,have anti spyware/anti-virus and i am the only one who uses this computer so i think sygate woudl be my best bet. Monster and everyone else who helped, i really apprecaite it. Thanks guys