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Windows 7 firewall question
I've had Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit installed on my machine for two years now. Ihave
never used the Windows firewall, opting instead for the free version of Zone Alarm, which I've used for many year without a porblem. As of late, Zone Alarm is causing me headaches, not remembering settings and denying downloads of files without telling me why. An example of this is today, I was trying to download a ..pdf file of an owners manual, and it kept crashing. After about a dozen tries, it dawned on me to shut down Zone Alarm, and sure enough, the file downloaded with no problems. So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? Thanks. |
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Windows 7 firewall question
wrote:
I've had Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit installed on my machine for two years now. Ihave never used the Windows firewall, opting instead for the free version of Zone Alarm, which I've used for many year without a porblem. As of late, Zone Alarm is causing me headaches, not remembering settings and denying downloads of files without telling me why. An example of this is today, I was trying to download a .pdf file of an owners manual, and it kept crashing. After about a dozen tries, it dawned on me to shut down Zone Alarm, and sure enough, the file downloaded with no problems. So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? Thanks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zonealarm "It includes an inbound intrusion detection system, as well as the ability to control which programs can create outbound connections." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Firewall "XP's Windows Firewall cannot block outbound connections; it is only capable of blocking inbound ones." "Windows Vista Outbound packet filtering, reflecting increasing concerns about spyware and viruses that attempt to "phone home". Outbound rules are configured using the management console. Notifications are not shown however for outbound connections." So the Windows firewall is gradually catching up, but doesn't function exactly like ZoneAlarm. A basic firewall, is intended to help prevent incoming connections to specific ports. That is what you'd expect by default. Doing something with outgoing connections, is the part ZoneAlarm is most noted for (alert when something phones home). Since malware (like a Trojan) can "own" a computer though, I wouldn't think that ZoneAlarm is going to be able to stop a malicious attempt to communicate. Once something is running on your machine, all bets are off. ZoneAlarm is going to alert you during "naive" attempts, like say a Google Toolbar calling home, or Adobe trying to update Flash or Acrobat Reader. Paul |
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Windows 7 firewall question
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Windows 7 firewall question
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Windows 7 firewall question
On Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:34:47 -0400, rfdjr1 wrote:
I've had Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit installed on my machine for two years now. Ihave never used the Windows firewall, opting instead for the free version of Zone Alarm, which I've used for many year without a porblem. As of late, Zone Alarm is causing me headaches, not remembering settings and denying downloads of files without telling me why. An example of this is today, I was trying to download a .pdf file of an owners manual, and it kept crashing. After about a dozen tries, it dawned on me to shut down Zone Alarm, and sure enough, the file downloaded with no problems. So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? Thanks. I use windows firewall and MS essentials, works fine. While checking outgoing traffic does no harm, it seems to me if something is on your maching sending out you've got a problem. |
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Windows 7 firewall question
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Windows 7 firewall question
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:49:05 +0200, "s|b" wrote:
On Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:34:47 -0400, wrote: So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? I decided years ago that Free ZA was (is) crap and traded it for Sygate Personal Firewall. When support for Sygate dropped I started using Online Armor Free. Now it seems OA conflicts with avast!, so maybe I'll start using an alternative like Privatefirewall. I don't use W7's firewall, but I just read it it's capable of Outbound Protection: http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/windows-7-firewall-outbound-protection/ Seems easy enough. Anyway, if you're behind a router with NAT and a built-in firewall, then you don't really need a firewall and W7's firewall will certainly suffice. Your choice... Okay, thanks. I use a Linksys N router and settings that I can see offhand are router username:***** router password: ****** network name (SSID): ******** network security type: Higher Security (WPA / WPA2) network security key: ********* connection type: Keep Alive Does that tell you if it's safe to not use a software firewall? What is the NAT you mention? I don't see it on any of the tabs in the software for the router. I set it up when I bought it 3 years ago using the wizard. There is a box "SPI Firewall Protection" checked disabled. I didn't set it like that. Is it a problem? |
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Windows 7 firewall question
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:21:02 +0100, Gordon wrote:
On 16/07/12 22:34, wrote: I've had Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit installed on my machine for two years now. Ihave never used the Windows firewall, opting instead for the free version of Zone Alarm, which I've used for many year without a porblem. As of late, Zone Alarm is causing me headaches, not remembering settings and denying downloads of files without telling me why. An example of this is today, I was trying to download a .pdf file of an owners manual, and it kept crashing. After about a dozen tries, it dawned on me to shut down Zone Alarm, and sure enough, the file downloaded with no problems. So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? Thanks. If you're behind a NATS router then the Windows 7 Firewall is all you need. Anything else is paranoia..... What is NATS other than the Washington baseball team? How do I know if my Linksys router is NATS? |
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Windows 7 firewall question
On 17/07/12 21:27, wrote:
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:21:02 +0100, Gordon wrote: On 16/07/12 22:34, wrote: I've had Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit installed on my machine for two years now. Ihave never used the Windows firewall, opting instead for the free version of Zone Alarm, which I've used for many year without a porblem. As of late, Zone Alarm is causing me headaches, not remembering settings and denying downloads of files without telling me why. An example of this is today, I was trying to download a .pdf file of an owners manual, and it kept crashing. After about a dozen tries, it dawned on me to shut down Zone Alarm, and sure enough, the file downloaded with no problems. So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? Thanks. If you're behind a NATS router then the Windows 7 Firewall is all you need. Anything else is paranoia..... What is NATS other than the Washington baseball team? How do I know if my Linksys router is NATS? Here's a definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network...ss_translation Lots of stuff here on Lynksys Routers and NAT - AFAIK most modern routers have NAT set up automatically. http://www.google.com/search?client=...oe=utf-8&gl=uk |
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Windows 7 firewall question
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:27:25 -0400, wrote:
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:21:02 +0100, Gordon wrote: On 16/07/12 22:34, wrote: I've had Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit installed on my machine for two years now. Ihave never used the Windows firewall, opting instead for the free version of Zone Alarm, which I've used for many year without a porblem. As of late, Zone Alarm is causing me headaches, not remembering settings and denying downloads of files without telling me why. An example of this is today, I was trying to download a .pdf file of an owners manual, and it kept crashing. After about a dozen tries, it dawned on me to shut down Zone Alarm, and sure enough, the file downloaded with no problems. So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? Thanks. If you're behind a NATS router then the Windows 7 Firewall is all you need. Anything else is paranoia..... What is NATS other than the Washington baseball team? How do I know if my Linksys router is NATS? I also just found this: Filter Anonymous Internet Requests Filter Multicast Filter Internet NAT Redirection Filter IDENT (Port 113) Filter Anonymous Internet Requests is checked. Filter Ident (Port 113) is checked. |
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Windows 7 firewall question
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:34:07 +0100, Gordon wrote:
On 17/07/12 21:27, wrote: On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:21:02 +0100, Gordon wrote: On 16/07/12 22:34, wrote: I've had Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit installed on my machine for two years now. Ihave never used the Windows firewall, opting instead for the free version of Zone Alarm, which I've used for many year without a porblem. As of late, Zone Alarm is causing me headaches, not remembering settings and denying downloads of files without telling me why. An example of this is today, I was trying to download a .pdf file of an owners manual, and it kept crashing. After about a dozen tries, it dawned on me to shut down Zone Alarm, and sure enough, the file downloaded with no problems. So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? Thanks. If you're behind a NATS router then the Windows 7 Firewall is all you need. Anything else is paranoia..... What is NATS other than the Washington baseball team? How do I know if my Linksys router is NATS? Here's a definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network...ss_translation Lots of stuff here on Lynksys Routers and NAT - AFAIK most modern routers have NAT set up automatically. http://www.google.com/search?client=...oe=utf-8&gl=uk Thanks. I did Google NATS and the couple of articles I opened all mentioned gaming so I wasn't sure where it was going. |
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Windows 7 firewall question
wrote:
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:49:05 +0200, "s|b" wrote: On Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:34:47 -0400, wrote: So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? I decided years ago that Free ZA was (is) crap and traded it for Sygate Personal Firewall. When support for Sygate dropped I started using Online Armor Free. Now it seems OA conflicts with avast!, so maybe I'll start using an alternative like Privatefirewall. I don't use W7's firewall, but I just read it it's capable of Outbound Protection: http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/windows-7-firewall-outbound-protection/ Seems easy enough. Anyway, if you're behind a router with NAT and a built-in firewall, then you don't really need a firewall and W7's firewall will certainly suffice. Your choice... Okay, thanks. I use a Linksys N router and settings that I can see offhand are router username:***** router password: ****** network name (SSID): ******** network security type: Higher Security (WPA / WPA2) network security key: ********* connection type: Keep Alive Does that tell you if it's safe to not use a software firewall? What is the NAT you mention? I don't see it on any of the tabs in the software for the router. I set it up when I bought it 3 years ago using the wizard. There is a box "SPI Firewall Protection" checked disabled. I didn't set it like that. Is it a problem? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network...ss_translation 192.168.1.2 Port 80 --- NAT --- 203.128.17.64 Port 1234 __. --- 203.128.17.64 Port 4567 192.168.1.3 Port 80 / 192.168.x.x is a "private" address, and isn't intended to be "seen" on the Internet. The Network Address Translation step, achieves that goal. It's done inside your router. The source IP and port, are translated in such a way, that the NAT knows where to send a returning response from some server on the Internet. If you wanted to run a web server on your home computer, you can override NAT on the incoming direction. That's called "Port Forwarding". Without Port Forwarding, depending on the type of NAT, an external computer can't really talk to the home computer, unless it has some connection already in place. So your typical home router, is set up by default, to enable "web surfing", rather than running "servers" from your basement. SPI is "Stateful Packet Inspection". It's possible for an external agent, to spoof a communications with your home gear. What they can't know though, is what the "sequence number" is, of the most recent connection going through the NAT. When you enable SPI, it checks sequence numbers on the packets. If your normal web surfing sent packets 1,2,3,4... and the sequence number coming back was way out of sequence 3489, then the SPI would know someone was trying to break in. Without SPI, it would presumably be a bit easier to do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stateful_packet_inspection Anyway, without getting all the details right, those are some basic ideas. You get a small measure of security, as soon as there's at least one router box in your home setup, and you haven't done your utmost to defeat it :-) For example, if you enable DMZ on your home router, then the script kiddies go wild. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMZ_(computing) "The DMZ host provides none of the security advantages that a subnet provides and is often used as an easy method of forwarding all ports to another firewall / NAT device" Some people use DMZ on their router, when they want a single machine in the home to function as a "game server" and need a whole bunch of ports open. At one time, home routers didn't support the insertion of very many port forwarding rules, and DMZ was a quick and easy way to "bust a hole" in NAT. But also, a dangerous thing to do. Someone could send a "ping of death" to your game server, and knock it over. Suffice to say, with all the stuff we have access to now, there can be some overlap in the protections provided. The "ship" we float in, still leaks, but the holes aren't as large. Paul |
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Windows 7 firewall question
Dave Cohen wrote:
On Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:34:47 -0400, rfdjr1 wrote: I've had Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit installed on my machine for two years now. Ihave never used the Windows firewall, opting instead for the free version of Zone Alarm, which I've used for many year without a porblem. As of late, Zone Alarm is causing me headaches, not remembering settings and denying downloads of files without telling me why. An example of this is today, I was trying to download a .pdf file of an owners manual, and it kept crashing. After about a dozen tries, it dawned on me to shut down Zone Alarm, and sure enough, the file downloaded with no problems. So, I'm now wondering how reliable is the Windows 7 firewall, and how does it match up to Zone Alarm? Also, how easy is it to use? Thanks. I use windows firewall and MS essentials, works fine. While checking outgoing traffic does no harm, it seems to me if something is on your maching sending out you've got a problem. I'm with you. I figure blocking outbound traffic is like closing the barn door after the Trojan horse is already in the barn. For that matter, unless you are running a server, if your computer is set up properly, you don't really need inbound protection. -- Crash "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory." ~ W. Edwards Deming ~ |
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