need another firewall & anti-virus program

[dani82]

i'm currently looking into get another firewall & anti-virus, but i have no idea which ones are good, as of now, i have nav2k3, nis2k2, and blackice 3.6.

i will appreciate any suggestions, as long as the OS is WinMe.

am i being over-protected; or not at all?

[hakko504]

ZoneAlarm is a very good choise for firewall: free and offers better protection than blackice.

[avih]

i use the free Sygate Personal Firewall (http://smb.sygate.com/free/default.php) and the free AVG anti Virus (http://www.grisoft.com) and am quite satisfied. afaik i never had a security breach so far (using them both about a year now, with regular updates).

[avih]

if you wanna help yourself, security wise, i suggest moving away from MS products as much as you can. don't use MSN messanger, IE, Outlook[/express], etc. they usually pose major security threat, and virus writers, script kiddies and spammers are attracted to these like flies to sh*t.

alternatives to specific IM clients are Trillian and Gaim which are multi-medium clients (MSN/Yahoo/ICQ/AOL/IRC). i'm sure there are other clients as well. miranda and jabber to name two.

alternative mail clients are mozilla or eudora or opera, and others.

alternative browsers are mozilla/firebird/opera/lynx ;)

all these are free, or with free versions (trillian/opera/eudora).
of course, if you feel adventerous, you can try linux as well (OS/X anyone?)

there are many more non-MS apps that can easily replace the MS equvalents. Open Office is doing a great job, and is nicely compatible with MS products formats', Dia can replace Visio, Mozilla-Composer can replace front page. on the server side apache/PHP/MySql will replace IIS/SQL-Server/ASP, and linux will replace windows ;)

[^AnThraX^]

I am using the Agnitum Outpost Firewall 1.0 Pro (2.0 is actual version, 1.0 is now for free afaik).
It is really powerful but still with simple GUI.
And it can really filter most of the advertising-banners from the web.

And the Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional with some updates.
I never had a virus/breakthrough and am very happy with these two.

www.agnitum.com (http://www.agnitum.com)
www.symantec.com (http://www.symantec.com)

[Teegedeck]

In most discussions about firewalls that I've read a majority of posters seemed to prefer Kerio Personal Firewall (successor of Tiny). Very flexible and effective piece of software. Talking about c't (they conduct fearfully accurate tests), only few anti-virus softs work satisfactorily according to that magazine: AVK and BitDefender were the most reliable ones.

[mtc]

Like avih I use Sygate Personal Firewall, I splashed out and got the pro version and am very happy with it (nice IDS functions). Also seeing as I'm a security/linux geek, I've also got a Linux machine running as an iptables firewall - but that's probably completely unnessecary.

For Antivirus I had been using the free version of AVG and was quite happy, but I just recently got Norton Antivirus 2003 Pro and would have to say I like it better than AVG.

I also agree about possibly changing the programs you use, I've changed to use Eudora and Trillian instead of Outlook and MSN and find them far better to use.

[themanintheknow]

You can use zonaalarm and sygate together, it worth getting pro port as well covers a bit more when your getting scanned, i found norton left UpnP port open but manualy placing it in port pro sorted it.

There was a free vexira pro anti virus on pc plus mag it get up dates every day ive had 3 inone day.
I used avast32 , but it tell you whats happening, it thought me off and i cocked up my pc, let the virus run..durrrr!

its all free as well bonus..

[dani82]

thank you all for your suggestions.

i guess 1 anti-virus was enough (nav2k3), and 4 firewalls might be enough too; nis2k2, blackice, sygate, and alarmzone.

[cweb]

Better not use BlackICE - their download server was left open with vulnerable services, on purpose, so that hackers would hack the server (a honeypot).

See this article:
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/162

Quoting the article:
Instead, ISS revealed that the hacked site, the one from which students and universities around the world downloaded free versions of BlackICE to protect themselves from hackers, was in reality a cleverly disguised, purposefully vulnerable honeypot, strategically placed in this hostile environment to collect and analyze the actions of evil hackers.

[dani82]

that article was about downloading free versions of blackice (demo), and nothing about the software itself, and besides if someone tries to hack me, i'm sure the other 3 firewalls should handle it.


you get what you payed for.

[dani82]

better to keep this thread going, instead of starting a new one: cause it's semi-related, might help others, can't think of anything else.

anyway, i had to un-install ZoneAlarm a month ago, cause it kept on blocking my connection from going on any further (possible hack accuring), until i rebooted (pain in the ass), but i want to re-installing it, only if i can disable that feature.

[r6d2]

Have you guys been spammed by those messages that pop up in the middle of the screen? (not Explorer pop ups, they look like Messenger pop ups, even though I don't run Messenger).

I'm a good guy, don't do P2P, don't install cracked software, don't install spyware, or any other risky stuff, and I have licenses for all the software I use.

I use Agnitum but they keep on showing up. The only way I got rid of them was to enable the built in XP firewall, which is by all firewall gurus refered to as a perfect crap!

Anyone experienced a similar problem?

[KpeX]

If you're referring to the 'messenger service' popups that you'll get from time to time, they're from the built-in windows messenger service. The only way I know of to block them is to disable the messenger service:
Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services > Right click messenger, click properties, click stop, set startup type to disable.

If you never use the service ( 'net send' from a command prompt ), it should be no problem to disable it. hth,

KpeX

[r6d2]

Thanks a lot, I'll try that.

[Sirber]

Originally posted by dani82
that article was about downloading free versions of blackice (demo), and nothing about the software itself, and besides if someone tries to hack me, i'm sure the other 3 firewalls should handle it.


you get what you payed for. You have 4 firewall? IMHO it's wasting CPU time. Get a router and flush all that cr*p...

[Sirber]

Originally posted by r6d2
Have you guys been spammed by those messages that pop up in the middle of the screen? (not Explorer pop ups, they look like Messenger pop ups, even though I don't run Messenger). You're plugged directly to internet, no router, no firewall. You recieve message by a windows service. I suggest that you buy a router/firewall or install ZoneAlarm.

[r6d2]

Originally posted by Sirber
You're plugged directly to internet, no router, no firewall. You recieve message by a windows service. I suggest that you buy a router/firewall or install ZoneAlarm.
I use Agnitum firewall. I used ZoneAlarm some time ago but I find Agnitum less intrusive. Do you recommend one over the other?

[Sirber]

IMO a router/linux is the best protection avalible, but if you want a software firewall for windows, I recommend:

Commercial softwares:
Zone Alarm Pro
Norton Anti-Virus Corporate Edition

Free softwares:
Zone Alarm
Grisoft AVG 6.0 Free Edition

[dani82]

actually, i only have 3 firewalls right now (somewhat stated in my last reply). CPU time?

i don't know much about routers, but i'm pretty sure i would need a dsl/cable connection to uses one; which i don't have (oh well), if i did, i would probably double my firewalls; better safe than sorry.

anybody got any suggestions about my problem? the one about Zone Alarm, and not about why i need so much firewalls.

[Sirber]

Why do you need so much firewalls? 1 is enough...

[dani82]

ever been hacked, first time i got hacked (1 firewall), took me 4-5 hours to get everything back to the way it was; then i learned how to make a backup disk (8 minutes + formatting).

if 1 was enough, then people would just download free firewalls

[Sirber]

With ZoneAlarm Pro well configured and a good AV, there is no way to get hacked. A lot of people tryed on my, no one succeded. Now I'm only behing a Linksys router and running an AV, Grisoft AVG 7.0.

[dani82]

maybe so, maybe so, but i can't take the chance, when i finish ripping a entire series, i start burning them and never before.

again, can anybody tell me if & how i can disable the feature in Zone Alarm that block my connection from going on any further, until i reboot due to a possible hack accuring.

[Sirber]

never saw that option... BTW, no one wants to hack you. Who want to loose he's time to hack you? You're not a bank, not a FBI-affiliated, etc etc. I think you're paranoy.

For extra security, I suggest that you cancel with your ISP. Also, remove any card that can communicate outside of your computer :p

[masken]

Originally posted by Teegedeck
In most discussions about firewalls that I've read a majority of posters seemed to prefer Kerio Personal Firewall (successor of Tiny). Very flexible and effective piece of software. Talking about c't (they conduct fearfully accurate tests), only few anti-virus softs work satisfactorily according to that magazine: AVK and BitDefender were the most reliable ones. I can only agree :) Kerio/Tiny is good, takes almost no resources, is easy to configure, and loads as a service before the OS TCP/IP.

I use NAV CE (Norton Antivirus Coroprate Edition) for AV. But as we all know, it's almost always a catch 22 with AV apps; the virus always comes before the DAT's...

[dani82]

it's doesn't matter if i'm worth hacking or not, it's cause they can and will, just for the hell of it. i thought about your suggestion, but i'd might find it a little hard to connect to net without them (oh well).

i tried already kerio, didn't like it for some reason i can't remeber.

so i'm guessing no one will help me with my problem; not cause you won't, but probably cause it ain't possible.

[bilu]

Free Firewalls
==============

Kerio (aka Tiny) Personal Firewall is better than Agnitum Outpost Firewall (free version) when you have a home LAN, because in Outpost you can only define a trusted network on the PRO version.

Do not install both of them, my machine started rebooting when I tried.

Free Antivirus
==============
Look here:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/5430/s/antivir.html


AntiVir, Avast, or AVG? An Antidiscombobulator

* Choose AVG if you're a technophobe or if your computer is old and slow. Configure it to scan all file types, to scan archives, and to use heuristics if available. Don't bother installing the e-mail scanner unless you use a supported e-mail client (FAQ). Clean out the updates folder bimonthly; leave the current update file and ctf files (FAQ).
* Choose AVG or Avast if you have dial-up Internet service. AntiVir's update files are huge.
* Choose AVG or Avast if you want automatic updating. AntiVir doesn't have it.
* Choose AntiVir if you want the best detection rates for the full range of malware as of 2002 (judging by AV-Test.org test results).


I'm using Antivir right now, haven't tried the others.

Free Spyware removal
====================

SpywareBlaster and Spyware Guard for ActiveX spyware:

http://www.wilderssecurity.net/index.html

and for the rest, Spybot:

http://www.safer-networking.org



Bilu

[Lefungus]

My solution, get a cheap 486 or pentium, with 2 ethernet cards.
Install smoothwall on it, and there it is, you have a nice linux router/firewall, with an http interface.

Easy to install, and much better than any windows firewall solution, imo.

[DDogg]

I've always been curious about something. Can a system be hacked assuming a clean XP install with no trojans, a linksys cable router and kerio firewall software installed? In fact, could a system be externally hacked with just the router using NAT without firewall software? Assuming no port forwarding has been turned on, how could anybody mess with you?

[r6d2]

Originally posted by DDogg
In fact, could a system be externally hacked with just the router using NAT without firewall software? Assuming no port forwarding has been turned on, how could anybody mess with you?
If NAT is truly transparent, then someone can exploit some of the several security flaws on XP, Outlook or IE to mess with you.