Firewalls and antiviruses

Grombo · Post by **Grombo** » 14 Mar 2009, 19:51

what firewall and antivirus do you use?
im looking for recommendations on free firewalls and antiviruses

Post by **DNR** » 14 Mar 2009, 20:12

Comodo Firewall
and
Comodo AVP, just run the AVP once a while, you don't need every time you boot up(takes awhile)

The key is baseline your computer - using tools like process explorer you can determine normal behavior and detect unusual behavior - you should not trust a program to protect you. The baseline is done when you do a fresh install, I boot up everytime with process explorer and I use it instead of taskman.

DNR

Post by **pseudo_opcode** » 14 Mar 2009, 21:10

For windows
Comodo

Linux,
Iptables(or maybe kerberos for servers)

Dont use any antivirus though

Post by **bad_brain** » 15 Mar 2009, 07:04

hm, on my XP system I use Kaspersky Internet Security 7....I know you asked for free ones, but there is a little "trick" that enables you to use KIS7 free for 1 year, sadly only the german language version. but if anyone is interested let me know...it's NOT illegal and fully functional (updates too of course).

I've never really used free ones, and my focus is on the firewall, the AV is not really important to me, can't even remember when I last had an infection on my system....and the one of Kaspersky is simply the best desktop firewall available imo (at least the one of version7, don't know about 8, but version 2009 is horrible).

Lyecdevf · Post by **Lyecdevf** » 15 Mar 2009, 12:29

I used ZoneAlarm for a while but than I realized that it likes to block the internet connection all together. It also took me a while to realize that the fault was with the firewall.

Any way you might want to use a router with a firewall. As for the AV you can do with out.

Grombo · Post by **Grombo** » 16 Mar 2009, 04:11

i actually do have a router firewall, is it still necessary to have one on my pc?

Post by **bad_brain** » 16 Mar 2009, 05:38

Grombo wrote:i actually do have a router firewall, is it still necessary to have one on my pc?

depends on how well it is configured and how willing you are to put time into the configuration....because if you have programs you don't want to connect to the internet you will have create a rule for each single one, which can be a pain in the rear if you don't know what ports the programs use or if they use port ranges (or even random ports).
and you also will have to keep your system up to date with the latest patches all the time to make sure no vulnerable service can be accessed from the outside.

so I recommend to use a lightweight desktop firewall too...

mystikblaze · Post by **mystikblaze** » 16 Mar 2009, 05:45

Post by **bad_brain** » 16 Mar 2009, 06:02

well, there are just a few known malwares for Linux systems, simply because the user/file permission system in Linux is much more effective than on MS systems...if a non-root user catches some malware it's trapped in the limited permission environment of the user and can't affect processes that would be needed to take-over the whole system.
there are surely a lot of flaws on Linux systems too, but those are fixed much faster than on Windows, simply because the whole Linux community is involved with finding and fixing flaws...and not just a small developer team like for Windows.

Post by **lilrofl** » 16 Mar 2009, 08:51

AVG for antivirus... but I never really run it, just keep it around for the autoprotect thing that is occasionally useful.

Comodo Firewall, which is a pain in the backside to set up at first, but you get used to it.

I have no antivirus on Linux, and just use iptables or firwall.rc for Slax when I feel particularly paranoid lol.

Lyecdevf · Post by **Lyecdevf** » 19 Mar 2009, 02:56

Grombo wrote:i actually do have a router firewall, is it still necessary to have one on my pc?

Well I wrote a tutorial on how to configure your router and if you want to look at it I can give you a link to it. That in it self is a good level of protection. Of course you can and should have a firewall on your computer as well. I have also seen websites that recommend you have a third party firewall like zonealarm and windows firewall both running on your system. Now some may say that is not such a good idea. I personally do not know but I prefer to use a single firewall on my computer.

Post by **DNR** » 19 Mar 2009, 10:15

Don't use two Host-based firewalls, its a waste of resources.

If you have a router and it has its own set of rules - great - but I would still have a Host-based firewall because you can monitor whats going on right on your desktop. It is also the last brick in your firewall - if an attack bypasses the router (it can't cover every ruleset and may not autoupdate itself) your Host-based Firewall will stop it and alert you.

The AVP is indeed becoming a Server-side process - why worry about viruses and trojans when your mail provider, file host, and even your ISP - is scouring the internet for malware and viruses. Network service providers take the biggest hit from malware - the traffic congestion and customer QoS complaints - so they have a incentive to initiate malware control at the Network Level. So why bother carrying a AVP? Not even considering Cross-site attacks, URL injection, if you torrent or visit underground file hosts you are at a greater risk than the ordinary joe. I fire up the AVP when I know I am dealing with suspicious sites and files - its just a tool to have, and something not to leave to chance (some malware is harder to clean from your system and offer potential to damage your files FUBAR)

It still comes down to ordinary tools to monitor your computer and network and the mental skillset to understand what is happening to a computer or network.

DNR