Do We Really Need A Firewall?

[nsane99]

Do We Really Need A Firewall?

If no, why?

If yes, why?

[shought]

Do we really need an AV?

I don't think you need either one of them if you use common sense and don't mind cleaning up the mess when common sense fails you (this doesn't have to happen to often). When common sense screws up even an AV might not protect you, I guess.

Many people misunderstand the use of a firewall for their personal PC. It's not keeping the bad guys out, rather keeping the bad guys in, should they get in. Your router or modem will, for the most, provide sufficient security for your home network in keeping the bad guys out.

I use the Windows 7 integrated firewall solution because it doesn't nag me (anymore) and I don't feel like it's using much resources, which is actually the only reason causing me not to disable it :P

[Marik]

Do We Really Need A Firewall?

If no, why?

If yes, why?

the chances of you personally getting attacked by someone are less than 5%....so just stick with the standard windows firewall....like me

and the gadgets and doohickeys are not needed if you are really careful with what you're browsing....however, a malware/spyware scanner is always recommended.

but as for the firewall advice. Unless you're an important internet person, who supply people with 0 day stuff and is well known for your hacking abilities, or you piss other 1337 kiddies and give them a reason to attack your ports or ip, then yes, you should use a firewall other than the standard windows one.

if you're not, you can stick with the default

[nsane99]

Thank you for the answers... I am a computer technician here in the Philippines and some of my customers their computer are really old like Pentium 3 and 4 and also those who have net books Atom 1,6ghz I noticed that having a firewall makes their system slow.

[ROMANTICGUY50]

I don't know if you really need an antivirus or firewall our not If so I would like one that uses very little resourses. Cause I am using Avast and Outpost firewall and they sure do slow down my internet speed. thanks

[DKT27]

Depends on your needs. I'm playing Need For Speed Hot Pursuit right now. And because it's not original, I need to block it from internet access, same with many other softwares. Then comes security, I'm not sure how well can a hardware firewall stop a keylogger or a trojan from connecting to it's home. Never the less, layered security is not always bad. I suggest a regular internet user should have a firewall.

[jalaffa]

I use the integrated Windows 7 firewall as well. For needing to do some specific blocking of outbound traffic I might opt for something else. I don't need that I feel. As for AV I keep Eset Nod (mostly for nostalgic reasons). To date I can't recall it having detected a real threat. It's ok to get the false positive alert for this or that keygen, patch - just to be aware of the problems other users might encounter regarding that. Common sense is key. Have no idea why I have Trojan Remover doing a fastscan every time my computer starts up. I have a paid for license though, so something I want in return :)

[nemanja065]

Not used firewall purpose only, defense against inbound attack. The greater its role is as follows: If the infection from some Malware, keylogger, stealer .... and that AV is not observed, it could easily happen to pass data or information from the computer. Malware will render them harmless by allowing them to block access. FV has the role to prevent the extension of infection from the Internet.

Therefore, FV is even more important than AV. Of course, HIPS component must be included.

However, I prefer the FV, I use ESET Smart Security and his FV.

Take care of these things, but it is important not to save a password in the browsers.

ESET Firewall a list of processes with network activity and the current speed dovnload / upload and the amount of traffic transmitted. Therefore, I give him an advantage over the integrated Windows 7 firevwal.

[HX1]

There are several reasons why a firewall can be important to your System Security. Many users do not know what all is going on behind the Flash Games and Sensationalist ads, links which lead us to many places on the Internet, not do they realize that any given malicious connection can solicit an attack. It is never as personal as some may lead you to believe. Give yourself long enough time with a good firewall and monitoring and you will become quite aware of what can and will happen. Not to mention that especially in a world of roaming computer use.. from the Airport, to your friends house and to school and back.. You never really know who all is there or what may be on that network.. but it would be a great place for all of the things you don't want.. Things that you might want to do with it.. and detect..( some of this goes both ways )

• Communicating with unknown destinations - why is a program trying to communicate outside its required zone
  
  
• Unknown data communication - What is it and where is it going?
  
  
• Unknown program communication - What is it and where is it going?
  
  
• Protocol traffic shaping - Indicate which protocols are/not allowed and be notified of that access
  
  
• Unwarranted inbound communication - What is coming in and why, what is it trying to communicate with?
  
  
• Differentiation between Zone and Internet communication - Setting rules which disallow Internet access but allow specific communication with the Home network
  
  
• Rules for communication of programs and services - in,out and in what zone
  
  
• Worm Detection
  
  
• PortScan Detection
  
  
• Bot Detection
  
  
• Application Modification Detection - Rules are great but what if one of your programs have changed or been hacked/replaced during an install to do other things.
  
  
• Address Filtering
  
  

Along with that, I can scan with Tenable Nessus and show you over ( on average ) about 80 points to each typical connection to a typical system.. which show information disclosure alone and other which show open ports ( I can also show you how to fix them or understand what they are using the same program ). On top of that your average Router will have vulnerabilities and about 20 points at which information disclosure is shown. While most people use hardware filtering and NAT type networks with port forwarding.. nothing is going to be fine for long if the router itself is compromised in one way or the other..

A firewall by itself helps with some of this as it occurs.. H.I.D.S. and H.I.P.S. can aid in stopping an detecting such activity if it were to occur some may actually cover the whole network and others are specific to protecting the system itself from undesired operation or vulnerabilities which typically can not be deterred by no other way than simply unplugging the system and shutting down the wireless.

Things of this nature do come of more of a concern when it comes down to running a business ( which usually is hosted elsewhere using hardware protection ) or simply running a personal server. Like NetBios and the new features of HomeGroup; you may want this activity monitored, not simply for the sake that you have something to hide or are doing something you need to protect yourself from, but more over of simply not being violated.. and not allowing someone to exploit these areas, rather it is for kicks or something else.

Many solutions out there are completely void of user ' configurability ' or access and are simple to the degree that, there really would not be much difference in having one and not having one...Other solutions however are more encompassing and I think that, though you may not need these things 24 hours a day 7 days a week... full-time all the time; they are in fact a good measure to help an individual control what comes in and what goes out, as well as deter the success of attacks which can be widespread and all encompassing. Every day and every week there is something new that has been created to make your life hell, waste your time, or victimize. Why not simply put something in place to help prevent it should it happen. Why be at the mercy of what is going on out there. It is like saying, ' Leave the doors unlocked, and open.. nothing's going to happen '

Some user also use filtering, and virtualization or sandboxing to help keep any of these events from having any effect on their system. These solution actually cover a wider range of problems such as infections and problems of the like, but may still have the problem of data disclosure...

If you have a simple computer with nothing of value on it, with no programs installed.. and its nothing more than a kiosk you don't mind rebooting, repairing, or are smart enough to configure and keep all of your information about your Hardware IDs serial numbers, mac addresses, and other stuff from being data-mined by one thing or the next then I say go ahead.. turn it all off...

I am not one to leave it to question, if I am going to have it, it will be like I want it.. rather that means changing it or w/e. Some don't even know you can or that anything exist that you would need to..

[jalaffa]

I'm not bringing my rig to an airport in the first place :lol: Sorry I could not resist.

[HX1]

Well.. the day I see some guy hauling his 'rig ' to the airport... Like in the 'Bank Job ' .. I am closing up shop and headed home.. with a ' Y2K Terrorist Package '.. for sure.. :lmao: .. and I am shutting down my laptop.. :D

[ROMANTICGUY50]

Depends on your needs. I'm playing Need For Speed Hot Pursuit right now. And because it's not original, I need to block it from internet access, same with many other softwares. Then comes security, I'm not sure how well can a hardware firewall stop a keylogger or a trojan from connecting to it's home. Never the less, layered security is not always bad. I suggest a regular internet user should have a firewall.

My speed down is 50mbs and 10 mbs up... I would like to be able to take advantage of the speed I am paying for. I use Ubuntu as well and I get the full speed 64 down and 10 up. The only prob is when I use xp.

[mikie]

I do lots of virus removals on philippines computer shop installations of windows.

Computer shops all seem to install a hacker version of windows, even if firewall shows enabled its usually disabled along with the antivirus program and windows updates.

Once I clean up virus's and disable the reg bypass hacks .. they are lots faster.

Try running an updated Malwarebytes full scan after you install your windows.... computer shop guy. Then fix it.. watch it speed up.

[Darker_Than_Black]

Yes. For the HIPS, the programs that phone home and dial 911, and the LULZ :tooth:

[HX1]

Depends on your needs. I'm playing Need For Speed Hot Pursuit right now. And because it's not original, I need to block it from internet access, same with many other softwares. Then comes security, I'm not sure how well can a hardware firewall stop a keylogger or a trojan from connecting to it's home. Never the less, layered security is not always bad. I suggest a regular internet user should have a firewall.

My speed down is 50mbs and 10 mbs up... I would like to be able to take advantage of the speed I am paying for. I use Ubuntu as well and I get the full speed 64 down and 10 up. The only prob is when I use xp.

Uhm.. in XP there a ton of hacks to speed up your Internet .. you might want to look into them.. One of which I used to use was changing the default limit of Half-open connection from 10 to 100 or w/e ( I actually used 1000 )... Plus there are quite a few more that can help.. To be honest, there may be more than one problem which is holding you back.. right down to the program your using.. but its do-able.. Hardware numbers can effect this as well...

I do lots of virus removals on philippines computer shop installations of windows.

Computer shops all seem to install a hacker version of windows, even if firewall shows enabled its usually disabled along with the antivirus program and windows updates.

Once I clean up virus's and disable the reg bypass hacks .. they are lots faster.

Try running an updated Malwarebytes full scan after you install your windows.... computer shop guy. Then fix it.. watch it speed up.

That along with looking into the Event Viewer and seeing other problems that are logged... and removing crapware.. Like the Google Updater... Always helps.. more than one problem out there... :) Always good to go full circle...

[tipo]

i do need a firewall. someone on the network (same ISP) has conficker. if i disable or remove the firewall my windows freezes, and i get infected with conficker.my sound gets disabled too. if i enable the firewall and erase the infection all goes normally. so in my case i really need a firewall.

[nsane99]

I do lots of virus removals on philippines computer shop installations of windows.

Computer shops all seem to install a hacker version of windows, even if firewall shows enabled its usually disabled along with the antivirus program and windows updates.

Once I clean up virus's and disable the reg bypass hacks .. they are lots faster.

Try running an updated Malwarebytes full scan after you install your windows.... computer shop guy. Then fix it.. watch it speed up.

Since when you been here in the Philippines? You cant run a computer shop with fake windows installed on those computers, authorities often check computer shops and ones they saw your windows fake they will get your computers and you will pay fine for each computer having fake OS.

[mikie]

I do lots of virus removals on philippines computer shop installations of windows.

Computer shops all seem to install a hacker version of windows, even if firewall shows enabled its usually disabled along with the antivirus program and windows updates.

Once I clean up virus's and disable the reg bypass hacks .. they are lots faster.

Try running an updated Malwarebytes full scan after you install your windows.... computer shop guy. Then fix it.. watch it speed up.

Since when you been here in the Philippines? You cant run a computer shop with fake windows installed on those computers, authorities often check computer shops and ones they saw your windows fake they will get your computers and you will pay fine for each computer having fake OS.

I've remote desktop shared and cleaned up probably in the neighborhood of 200 pc's last year. Maybe 3 had registered versions of windows... All the rest are non legal copies with firewall/antivirus/widows updates bypassed in the registry. Its gotta be some standard hacker version of xp pro there. Some areas 350 peso to reinstall windows... some areas 1100 peso.. go figure.

To me it truly seems the computer shops like the added business to have their customers return to their shops in a timely fashion for a reformat and reinstall of windows..after they become full of virus.

[Tunerz]

Sticking up to the topic, better use the firewall that comes with the OS, considering their hardware performance.

As for security and maintenance, you might as well teach them some new stuff, such as virtualization, if they are interested. If not then you might as well go with the regular setup, or at least a better one.

[nemanja065]

What do you think about NEW version of PC Tools Firewall Plus 7. What are the experiences ?! :D

[HX1]

I do lots of virus removals on philippines computer shop installations of windows.

Computer shops all seem to install a hacker version of windows, even if firewall shows enabled its usually disabled along with the antivirus program and windows updates.

Once I clean up virus's and disable the reg bypass hacks .. they are lots faster.

Try running an updated Malwarebytes full scan after you install your windows.... computer shop guy. Then fix it.. watch it speed up.

Since when you been here in the Philippines? You cant run a computer shop with fake windows installed on those computers, authorities often check computer shops and ones they saw your windows fake they will get your computers and you will pay fine for each computer having fake OS.

I've remote desktop shared and cleaned up probably in the neighborhood of 200 pc's last year. Maybe 3 had registered versions of windows... All the rest are non legal copies with firewall/antivirus/widows updates bypassed in the registry. Its gotta be some standard hacker version of xp pro there. Some areas 350 peso to reinstall windows... some areas 1100 peso.. go figure.

To me it truly seems the computer shops like the added business to have their customers return to their shops in a timely fashion for a reformat and reinstall of windows..after they become full of virus.

I think what he means nsane99, is that he cleaned and fixed them... not installed them ....

[tipo]

didn`t use pctools firewall but heard it is really good. if you try please let us know some details. currently using zonealarm free firewall.

[7even]

didn`t use pctools firewall but heard it is really good. if you try please let us know some details. currently using zonealarm free firewall.

What about reliability? Does it slow down your PC's performance?

[tipo]

i saw some reviews of it and it didn`t seem to slow down the pc.

[*dcs18]

Good-bye