I recently started looking at firewalls to make my system even more secure, especially since I am wanting to get involved in this forum; my biggest fear is someone hacking my stuff, and I know that the more places you are active, the more ops ppl have to hack your system. From what I have seen, I have 3 choices...


ZoneAlarm free firewall, been around for years and has a good reputation. Their Defencenet automatically blocks known bad connections and the firewall seems to be a really easy to use.

Win7 has a firewall, which has the same basic features as ZoneAlarm, but is not as intuitive to use and dosen’t have anything like Defencenet. Also, it doesn’t have an automatic block feature, so you get pop-ups

Comodo seems equal to the Win7 firewall.

So they are all free, but it seems like Zonealarm offers better protection with their Defencenet feature, and an easy of use.

Is this really the case?

It seems that the Defencenet feature of zonealarm is like a cloud based database, is this correct? Is it really a good feature?


Have any of you taken extra measures to secure your info? If so, what and how and do you know anything about these firewalls?

 

I have used Zonealarm for years, and I set it up once, and then forget it since it does what it does so well.

I think this Defencenet is a good feature of Zonealarm, and most Cloud based systems are pretty secure.

Personally, I think a good security system is a good firewall like Zonealarm and some form of antivirus (or 2). Since Zonealarm is free (just go to thier site), it is a good first step for security.

 

Just get microsoft security essentials, honestly the win7 firewall is fine.

You are not likely to get "hacked". Most "hackers" would never waste their time trying to hack some random guy, they target banks and such for money and CC numbers.

Almost all virus are from sketchy downloads, or going to odd websites.

 

I agree with McNabb. But I will elaborate some...

It is good that you are thinking of security...and what type of firewall to use. ZoneAlarm or CheckPoint is a fine product...and works. But the Win7 product is also good. The best feature of Win7 firewall that Win XP SP3 did not have...is the ability to monitor outgoing traffic. A major step forward for Microsoft.

So...a concern is getting hacked. Well...the truth is most vulnerabilities come from within. If you get a trojan, mal-ware, ad-ware...etc...from a site or from a social engineering email. A must is a good solid anti-virus application that is updated.

Make sure your OS is up-to-date on security updates...and for that matter...all your apps. Adobe comes to mind...and so does iTunes from Apple.

Plus...most ISP provide a free Security suite...as long as you are a paid member. Comcast and Qwest come to mind...

Good luck...with whatever you go with...and just make sure to monitor those logs for any unusual traffic.


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