Which one do you prefer?
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Which one do you prefer?
Forgot to tell the pc was used only for the testing purposes (till now)
Its been over an year now and I'm still figuring out best security combo for home pc espl. for 24X7 internet connections.
So far I have tested:
Firewalls
Kerio PF, McAfee, NOD, NAV, Symantec/Norton, ZA
Personally I felt Kerio to be the best on resources as well as the preventive agains attacks. But there are some leaks that Kerio wont prevent against, and the results had been a bit low recently.
I am getting kapersky for testing and then planning for sygate and outpost.
I would like you guys to post your msges, suggestions, experiences or anything about the FW you are using. I would appriciate if you could test your firewall(s) over the net using various sites like auditmypc or anyother. Do post the results as well with the link you tested it at.
AV
McAfee, Norton, AVG, Avast, Panda, etrust, cillin
I felt McAfee was a good choice. I started with norton and it screws your pc performance, came to panda then to avast..avg etc but none provided much of the security. (I test the AV using all the virus definations on various underground sites.... Try it at your own risk!!) Finally, came to eTrust coz its big boss choice but again was disappointed as it was unable to block many trojans and viruses. McAfee had been my choice lately. However, it eats up many resources. Till now resources were not a problem but now I have a constraint as I ll be using this pc too (apart from the testing).
Which one do you think would be the best? I am looking forward to kapersky again for this.
Do post as much info as you can and help needed urgently.
Njoy it safe!!!
Last edited by techster; 20-04-2005 at 06:21 PM.
Reason: formatting
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I have used norton and Mcafee in the past. I have been happy with sygate for ages until the last update......... I can't access emails or view secure sites or post on any forum unless I allow all. I am going to have to get a different one.
For antivirus I have tried norton and Mcafee, I use AVG now.......... I have had no problems for years......
I have spybot and adaware installed as well. A lot of antivirus programs let trojans slip through.
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I deffinitly prefer sygate but when i updated a few months back like jaynee i could only get a connection if i allowed all so went to option 2 zone alarm as for anti virus i first had norton but that caused problems when shutting the pc down, i then used Mcafee for a month, well i thought i was getting a bargain £12.49 but had to pay £21 for 12 months of updates so dumped them and have used AVG ever since and it has been faultless for me.
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thnx i ll try to test and post things. Well for the AV wont suggest AVG. Coz i had been using it and on testing the rate was approx 85% and most of the new trojans that act as a self distructing worm on boot wont be targetted by it. The reason is simple AVG wont test the files if they are switchable worms. I cant explain the tech stuff but to give an overview suppose that you have a script that is normal like abc.js. It will obviously load in java.. as they say java wont interfere in teh system.. well so far so good. But wot if some java applet have some hidden links that on user intervention points to another file over the net which can be transferred using open ports?
So when you operate these applets or java apps it will get downloaded using various exploits that java have, basically loader class. And here your computer goes numb. It will exploit the backdoor and thats all.
However, if you stick with AVG i would suggest you to check ur pc against viruses online using various trojan scanner, spybots and other av. They are best coz they wont load in computer but they ll load the signatures and then it checks using java loader classes.
:-)
hope that helps
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Back with the results
Personal Opinion
Kerio PF: Pretty good, Easy to manage UI, Easy ICS (just have to click it and its on the run), keep it updated to prevent major attacks, vulnerable to some attacks esply information sending out - Though it prompts before opening any application or before one app launches other.
Sygate: Pretty good, almost at par with kerio. UI sucks. If you want to use this one you should know where computer is heading to and where it generally heads to. Have to manaully configure it for everything. A bit of a pain but for those who are frequent visitors to hack sites and stuff ok sorts! Missed out couple of tests.
kaspersky: good but NO COMMENTS!@! I din like it. It missed major attacks. It eats up resources too.
Outpost: So i just checked it. UI is quite good, interesting for ones who like the windows style. Security - 8 on 10 for sure! Like ZA, kerio n other famous ones it comes with learning mode thing. It works well. I think it uses class rules to determine internet and LAN connections, dint work for me coz I use the other rules. Dont rely on automatic settings at all during setup. Select advance, its pretty easy though but will let you customize the firewall.
Missed out couple of tests.
Look n Stop: Another go buy tag!! Well its also good. Security 7 on 10. UI - 6 on 10. LnS is a good choice though I did not prefer using it for long. It was a nice sweep but later i discovered it wasnt very secured with some of the big boys (wont name tem 
)
NOTE:
All firewalls are good as long as you identify with their use and ease. For my list I would rate as follows:
1. Outpost - Easy, Prevents mostly, Easily Customizable
2. ZA - Easy, annoying rules, Prevents mostly, Easily Customizable, Resource Intensive
3. Kerio - Easy, Customizable, Prevents 8 out of 10 times
4. Lns - Easy, Customizable, Prevents 6 out of 10.
5. Kaspersky - Not so easy, Misses 6 out of 10.
All said and done, I would suggest everyone to *NOT TO* provide default rule for their browser, select ALLOW SESSION or soemthing simillar. You ll second it after testing your system at the link given in the post. Second, DONT EVER GIVE OUT YOUR INFO without knowing the site. Third, Firewalls can be fooled anytime. There will always be a race against security.. prevent yourself by avoiding the crap. Hardware Firewall with security firwall is best pick. In the learning mode dont go clickin everything yes yes to avoid pain, it can harm your system. Consider this (ones who arent gonna test their sys at the link.. SHUD READ): You have approved your DEFAULT browser for every activity. Some applications/malwares download themselves and would use your browser to send in the thigns. Since it is ruled out in the FW by default no software fw would block it.
Keep your real time scanning always handy and ready. Kaspersky is good as far as AV goes. Trust it for a month and you ll believe it. Check with Online AV in a month or so (Use dependent). If adsl, dsl do make it a poiint to check agains trojans, spyware and stuff every 2 weeks. SPYBOT, SPYWARE DOC, SPYBLASTER, M$ANTI SPY BETA etc are good ones to look out for.
If you leave system unattended for long hours make it a point to keep a log for running tasks. There are some spyware that will load only when system idle process is above 95% and as soon as you return its all safe. You might have noticed computer doin work when you arent at the pc, check it spyware or malware is there for sure. While surfing, if XP do use TASK MANAGER at random intervals. It will show you the processes that are running, you can always detect any *UNWANTED* process or the process you dunno about. Though before disabling it would suggest to google the process and read about it!!
You gotta make efforts to make it secure. Nothing is *AUTOMATIC* if humans wont give any intput *MANUALLY*!!!
here is the link if you want to test couple of things for ur firewall:
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.htm
http://www.auditmypc.com/
http://pcpitstop.com/
http://www.grc.com/default.htm
http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/firewall-test.asp (links to others)
http://www.hackerwatch.org/probe/
http://scan.sygatetech.com/
http://www.testmyfirewall.com/
http://www.pcflank.com/scanner1.htm?from=menu
Do post more links...
Be safe!
Last edited by techster; 26-04-2005 at 02:56 PM.
