S/W Firewall Questions

[Qui-Gon John]

1. Is there a free s/w firewall program available that will allow setting it so a computer cannot access the internet and securing those settings with a password? I know ZA free doesn't and ZA Plus or Pro you can set a password. Wondering about a free program.

2. If one setup this on a computer, would it be possible to allow the computer to access the local LAN but not the Internet? How would you do this?

Thanks for any help!

[Qui-Gon John]

C'mon, can't anyone provide some info for my question?

[Croc]

I can't say I have heard of this being able to be done. You would have to look at a rules based F/wall like Tiny/Kerio.

I hope you get a few more responses. In the meantime I will check with son and find out if he knows.

Croc.

[Qui-Gon John]

So off the top of your head, you think if I set it up so the computer is denied access out (to the internet), that will also deny access out to the LAN.

[Croc]

Yes I do but the easiest way to find this out is just do it, then if it doesn't work, restore the settings.

BTW, I am sure you used to be able to do this with ZA. Maybe it's all changed from when I last used it.

Croc.

[Qui-Gon John]

Croc, as I understand it, any version of ZA I could set it so that computer cannnot 'get out'. But with the free version, there would be nothing stopping the person from changing the setting back. ZAplus and ZApro both add password protection so a user without the PW cannot change things.

The friend I am helping out, they have someone at work who is spending way too much time on the internet and they want to stop them from being able to do this, but still use the computer to get work done.

[Croc]

Check out Sygate"s firewall. I believe the free version can be password protected.
Also you could go for Tiny or Kerio as I said before but setting it up is very different.

Croc.

[ghettoside]

ZA Pro will do what you want...as for freeware, I don't know. you get what you pay for, can't your company afford a $40 firewall? It would pay for itself in saved labor.

[ghettoside]

as an afterthought, can't the network administrator deny internet access to the problem station? I've seen it done before.

[JeffL]

Access could be disabled through the router, yes.

You could disable DNS services at the machine too, but they could still access some sites via raw IP address. Don't do this if resources on the network need DNS though.

[Qui-Gon John]

Actually, I can't believe I missed this. I have recommended they get ZA Plus, (also can be password protected, like Pro, but cheaper). Then all they have to do is install it on this workstation, and deny all access to Internet Explorer. Everything else should still work.

[ghettoside]

you still missed this: the network administrator can deny access to internet on the problem station, no need to buy ZA if that's all wanted. if the admin knows what he's doing. cheaper solution.

[Norm]

An easy solution to keep IE off the internet would be to rename it's exe file so it won't work at all.

[Qui-Gon John]

Originally posted by ghettoside
the network administrator can deny access to internet on the problem station, no need to buy ZA if that's all wanted. if the admin knows what he's doing. cheaper solution.

Not sure they really have a NW Admin or that he would know how to do this. Especially since they had one of the clerical people, my friend, ask me about how to do this.

[ghettoside]

then I'd say Norm's got the best idea, quick, cheap & easy!