Re: Are software firewalls necessary--off topic

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

--- Harry Binswanger  wrote:

> "Unfortunately, router firewalls are mostly
> inadequate. They do hide the
> router. But if a malicious program gets into the
> network, most can't
> block it from communicating with the Internet.
>
> "A good software firewall will hide your computers,
> and it will block
> outbound transmissions. So each computer on the
> network should have a
> software firewall, such as ZoneAlarm or Outpost."
>
> Is a software firewall really necessary?

Relatives of mine use the services of a computer
consultant with some regularity. He has a lot of
corporate clients -- his primary customer base -- and
seems quite knowledgeable to me, particularly in
regard to Windows issues and Windows software. From
what I've heard in some conversations with him, he
seems to be in general agreement with your newsletter
author.

OTOH, a really good hardware firewall (that is to say,
one much better than what you find built into your
typical router), is more than capable of controlling
things down to the nth. detail. I have one like that.
 Unfortunately, you kinda have to be a network
engineer to understand the manual, and I'm not. So I
don't know if I'm using it to best advantage. Over
time, I have "poked a few holes" in the default armor
setup to allow things like streaming RealVideo or IRC
to function with the firewall box in place. Maybe
this was a mistake . . . but so far I have no
evidence that any really nasty critters have gained
entrance because of this. I am NOT running any
software firewall program.

On the OTHER other hand, I'm running Windows only
about 30 % of the time, and these security issues are
essentially null & void under OS/2 (eCS). I'm sure
people must be getting tired of hearing me say this,
but it is SUCH a PLEASURE being able to ignore all
this virus | Trojan | worm | spyware crap, when I'm
not running Windows. A firewall is a good idea,
though, when you've got an always-on broadband
connection.

> I used to
> have ZoneAlarm, but I
> found it irritating (and almost impossible to remove
> once installed).

>From what I recall, after about ver. 2.6 they started
doing some obtrusive and annoying things. There are
other choices. Norton Firewall for one . . . but it
is an annual subscription.


Jordan