SG Broadband Community

Originally posted by hayc59

right now i am using NOD32 and am very pleased with both.

I've been waiting to hear of someone from here using that package. They're sure on an advertising spree!

Not that I'll ever leave my trusty Symantec Corporate Edition antivirus!

Wow.

I had figure this thread would be dead.

Originally posted by YeOldeStonecat
I've been waiting to hear of someone from here using that package. They're sure on an advertising spree!

do you mean all the updates??
its a mighty fine AV!!

Originally posted by dannjr
HAHAHAHA
You got to be kidding !

Obviois problem with this thread..

Steve Gibson in all his info says Use a Firewall, the fact that ZoneAlarm is the prefured on his site is the fact, that most of his pages he dosnt have time to redo. So he leaves allot in tacked and using a firewall is much better than using none at all. OR it could be what he prefures OR he gets a income from it and it costs allot to run his site. I would have to go with Firewall equils better than none at all..

Zone Alarm is NOT user friendly like one would think.
If you choose to Uninstall it you best be prepared to edit the regisrtry before you reboot. And Remove controll files after the reboot. If you dont you may end up ahving to reinstall ZoneAlarm just to get on line... Well if thats the best then I guess the New user is gonna learn the hard way.. Dont take my word for it look at the advance pages at Zone Alarm on how to completely remove ZA..
Now as Far as a Firewall its been noted all over the web that Zonealarm has a leak in it that crackers could possibly use.

So whats the big deal about using Outpost or Sygate.
Outpost has live help on all there products through there forum with plenty of experianced users "for" when something goes wrong

Sygate and outpost: Simple to use and uninstall for the first time user and at least they have a chance to get back online.

Norton: Giant resource hog and utilizes file locking so it can slow you up to P2 speeds. Definetley not recomended with networks not even the corp editions..

McAfee to busy with Government contracts building spyware for homeland and FBI to work hard enough on general public progects.. Only use for info resources

Norton and McAfee can be used to look up AV definitions and possibly virus removal tools..

I wont get into how bad or good other than to say
ITS real bad to use nothing at all...

Getting back to Steve Gibson grc.com and myself. (my opinion)
Its the best resource for small security tools
ITs also been around since the mid 90s and I read and look through his site on a monthly basis. I totally agree with his opinions on Microsoft security or the lack of microsoft security.
I also beleave its ok to ask whats the best around and that a educated opinion should be posted on the FACTS.

Once you get the opinions do a search in other places not just from one place..
Not all programs you ahve to pay for are the best afteral during the install they tell you there not responsibel for messing up your machine.. Personally I like free
because I have enough money invested in R&D and equiptment.

My solutions is Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware ran once a week on all 75 machines AVG for Antivirus ran nightley Outpost or Sygate depending on the machine and user. Productivity loss per week about an hour.. Productivity loss without them can be $12,000.00 in 3 days you do the math..

Productivity lost to unistall Zonealarm. aprox 1 hour per machine where a software wall is needed...

Everything I do is based on money and time..
I can also proudly say not one system has been hit a virri cracker or trogon since the beginning of last year


Is there enough facts there now..

I cant wait to justify why I stopped using Linksys alltogether and replaced several of them at the end of last year....
I do prefure a router / hardware firewall over software firewalls

Thanks

Dannjr

peace

dannjr pretty much sums it up

Every point he makes is from hands on experience (I can tell). About the exact same experiences I've been through as well.

Good post dannjr.

Originally posted by YeOldeStonecat
I've been waiting to hear of someone from here using that package. They're sure on an advertising spree!

Not that I'll ever leave my trusty Symantec Corporate Edition antivirus!

YEah I've considered taking advantage of my Business licenses I have for this to put on my Home PC

We use NAV Corp 8.1 at work ( Which I happen to be the AV Administrator )

Any one know if there are any 16 bit firewall apps out there for my happy Windows 3.11 laptop?

Thanks,
Shinobi

Is there even anything out there left that could infect a 16bit o.s.

3.11 has a buit antvirus beleve it or not alot of people didn't know that one.

Originally posted by Shinobi
Any one know if there are any 16 bit firewall apps out there for my happy Windows 3.11 laptop?

Thanks,
Shinobi

Have a read here Shinobi. You may recognise one of the avatars.

Croc.

Originally posted by hayc59
do you mean all the updates??
its a mighty fine AV!!

Just waiting to hear someone's opinion on it. How the performance hit compares to others, if it's been used out in the real world where it earns its keep catching several every day, etc.

Not true at all. While I do prefer using a quality router for my firewall protection, routers with their NAT are only dumb hardware firewalls, preventing only unknown incoming traffic from entering the LAN. They (basic home marker broadband routers) do absolutely nothing to block outgoing traffic. Software firewalls will also filter outgoing traffic to your hearts content.

At least someone else in here knows what they're talking about as well...

PEACE!!

--Thcranky1

Originally posted by Thcranky1
At least someone else in here knows what they're talking about as well...

PEACE!!

--Thcranky1

Everyone knows that NAT firewalls only block incoming attacks. That is why most of us recommend both a NAT & software firewall. I couldn't tell you how many times I've seen spyware purposely corrupt dll files in numerous software firewalls thereby turning them off leaving the person wide open to attacks, this is whare a router will save you.

Your point was that Zone Alarm is the only firewall to have certian features and is the best software firewall available..... it's not, it sucks.

It would probably be a bit more appropriate, as I said earlier...that you give a reason as to why it sucks instead of just an opinion. Why does Zone Alarm suck?

PEACE!!

--Thcranky1

Originally posted by Thcranky1
It would probably be a bit more appropriate, as I said earlier...that you give a reason as to why it sucks instead of just an opinion. Why does Zone Alarm suck?

PEACE!!

--Thcranky1

1. It is a resource hog.

2. It causes numerous connection issues.

3. It is very hard to uninstall, if the uninstall fouls up you cannot access the internet.

4. The protection is adequate but it is intrusive.

5. It is difficult to use for a novice.

Steele could you repeat those facts again i don't think cranky read the 1st serval times durring this whole topic.

I didn't like NOD32. It was far to complicated, everything was a seperate program and I couldn't figure out how to work it.

Originally posted by mmione
I didn't like NOD32. It was far to complicated, everything was a seperate program and I couldn't figure out how to work it.

In what way? I haven't seen it yet, but you mean like completely separate components for real time, pop-mail, update manager, etc?

Well I only used it for a couple hours. Everything was a seperate application, scanner, control, everything! It was all in seperate windows.

Guys,
Firewalls can be very complicated, difficult to understand...

Yes, there is a difference in a software application and the software on a hardware firewall... (A prominent diff being that it must get through the hardware first...)

NAT -network addy translation, layers, packet sniffing, etc., each has its own role...
Software apps are very limited and can not compare to hardware (even though hardware has software...)

But, do not get confused and believe that a router is a true firewall, far from it... Their best defense is hiding you. Changing your address. If you are not seen, your chances of being invaded are less, however, if they know that you are there... hehehehehehehehehh

You want to be 100% secure? Unplug it from the wall... hehehehheeh

Physical access?? MS says that if someone has physical access to your box, well,... it's not your box anymore!

Lets play nice guys.
l8rz,
Ken

There is but one god (zonelabs), and Steve Gibson is his prophet(profit).

Originally posted by cyberskye
There is but one god (zonelabs), and Steve Gibson is his prophet(profit).

cyberskye, you are in jest right???lol

Dont make us quote from grcsucks.com

nt

What about Kaspersky Lab's AV? Has anyone tried that before? I read from here that it's one of the best ones out there. Do you guys know whether it's a resource hog or not?

And how does Kaspersky Lab's firewall compares with the likes of Outpost, Syngate, etc.?

Europa2010AD, Welcome
Have not tried that firewall, So i cannot give you
any plus's or minus's on it.
Your best bet is to go with either
sygate or outpost(me i prefer Outpost)
but as you can see you will get a hundred different
opinions

Thanks hayc59 :-)

Which version, free or plus, of Outpost, would you recommend? Are the extra features of the plus version worth the money? I am currently running ZoneAlarm Pro, and after reading about the negative sides of it from here and other forums, I'd like to find out more about the alternatives.

Europa2010AD, take a look here--->
http://www.agnitum.com/
and i would go with the 'pro' version
and now that you have all that ZA stuff in your reg.
take a look here before you go and install Outpost.
ZA puts a lot of entries into the reg.!!!
http://www.outpostfirewall.com/forum/sh ... eadid=7172
we have great service at the forum also
good luck and keep me posted
have agreat day.Gordon

I tried Outpost based on your recommendation hayc, and I think someone else here strongly suggests it..forget who. Anyways, fixing up a buddies computer who was plugged right into cable directly, outdated AV, and no firewall. Sure enough this bugger was deeply hosed with issues. Cleaned it up, he wasn't going to spend the $$$ on a router like I'd prefer...so I plopped on Outpost. First time I'd played with it. Nice and simple, which was important for him, as I didn't want some firewall which kept tossing up "nags" at every action you did, would just confuse him. Clean and simple! And didn't seem to bog his machine down.

I prefer to use ZoneAlarm Pro. It's the best!

fastback wrote:I prefer to use ZoneAlarm Pro. It's the best!

No complaints here that's for sure.

Roody wrote:No complaints here that's for sure.

So far ZA free edition has been pretty good to me.

I'll tell you what, I sure opened up a can of chat with this thread.

sludge wrote:So far ZA free edition has been pretty good to me.
I'll tell you what, I sure opened up a can of chat with this thread.

yes you did!! but that is a good thing!!
debate/opinions is what matters thats how we all learn

As stated above i don't know how many times i used programs since i see debates on here from other techs i switched programs such as anti virus/firewalls a list of others, they were right. People tend to stick to products they use daily sometimes don't even bother or are not aware of other products.


Plus it's good to compare and contrast products to see what has what feature or what it lacks...

mccoffee wrote:As stated above i don't know how many times i used programs since i see debates on here from other techs i switched programs such as anti virus/firewalls a list of others, they were right. People tend to stick to products they use daily sometimes don't even bother or are not aware of other products.


Plus it's good to compare and contrast products to see what has what feature or what it lacks...

Yep.

I used to use Outpost free until I reformated my PC. After that, I put ZA on it. I didn't like it as much after using it for a while, though. It was too 'Windows XP', you know, automatic. I Like outpost more, so I switched back.

Kaspersky's firewall is called "Kaspersky Anti-Hacker".

It's not freeware and costs $us39-00.

The URL............
http://www.kaspersky.com/antihacker

Croc.

To add a bit, take a look at our (SG) server stats:
http://www.speedguide.net/stats/#refsite

One good thing about Outpost, as you can see from our server, is that it does block the referring site, another bonus in security...

I really just use hardware anymore and keep a tight system, however, many people do ask...

Thanks Ken And Thanks Fo The Info
Outpost Does A Great Job

dom424 wrote:What did you replace Linksys with and why? I've been thinking about replacing my Linksys for a ZyXEL Router.

Sorry took so long to get to this question...

I use westel or Speedstreams for xDSL connections bridged only because I dont have problems with them in bridged mode.. Up till recently I had been using Zonet routers and changed over to Edimax somethings going on at Zonet... But the edimax has been working fine. Basically there the same

They have twice the memory of the Linksys. More important in my end of things with small to medium businesses I need to have more than a few port ranges to block outgoing on.. Linksys limits the port filtering and as of late needs more restarts or reboots.
With the edimax or zonet I can set up to 30 differant machines with port filtering I can even block a machine from going out to the wed where needed and still connect to remote the desktop.
I have a couple of users that I had to set Outpost on and set there permissions to the point of them getting email only email only and no program install permissions..
I work where privacy is extreemly important. (HIPPA Certified) I cant afford to have your insurance info leak to the web. Some of the Data goes back to the mid 1980s Imagine your health info leaking out..
I have had to many times where I caught ports open on the linksys New and old.. Some of you dont need the type of security I have to watch out for.. On the otherhand and I'll probably regret this statement. I havnt had to reload a primary server thats behind my security settings Some of the settings I wont give out..

Outpost or Sygate with a well setup router will help keep your system clean. Im down to about 4 to 5 peices of spyware a week per machine and thats only because I sometimes get behind in updates OR Im teaching a new user in a office the DO's and Don't..

To all the business owners out there looking for info.. Teach your users what TO and not-to goto on the web. You'll find there not all as Dumb as they look.. As for the users I have blocked from the web Thats 2 people over 6 offices with now over 150 machines.. not to mention the Servers multiple T1's / Cable and DSL connections i them offices.. Be smart dont put all your security in one type application... But as I stated before certain software can slow you to a crawl (Norton and McDaffy)..

Thanks Ken for the added info

I prefer a hardware solution. I have a Nexland ISB that works fine.
I have been toying with the idea of doing a netBSD or Linux firewall such a m0n0 or smoothwall.
For our home there's really no need at this point, so it would be more for fun, or to replace the Nexland when she dies.

Hello this is my first post. I really find all the info on this site VERY helpful. His is my thaughts/experience with PC software routers.

I really likeed the free versoin of sygate but for some reason the new version won't work on my PC. I also had a full versoin of defender PRO its a peice of crap but the antivirus I like so far. I am now using the free version of Zone so far it is working pretty good. When I get a full firewall I will with sygate.

I am using a 56k dial up and am going to a ISDN 128k hopefully by spring. I live in a semi rual area so no cable modem or DSL. I will say going from a cable modem to 56k REALLY BITES!!!!!!!!!!11

Thanks again for all the info.

Speaking of using hardware firewalls.
Could you not use a PC put two nics one for Cable/DSL modem and other for
PC HUB and put a good firewall on the PC .