MS Vista to include a proper two way Firewall

DavidGP · Jan 20, 2006

Unlike the limp effort in XP, Vista from CTP Dec Build 5270 includes a two way blocking firewall which users have been asking for since seeing the XP token firewall.... now they have listened and included it in Vista.

Enhancements in the new Windows Firewall
The new Windows Firewall in Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" has the following enhancements over the current Windows Firewall in Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1:

• Supports both incoming and outgoing traffic

• New Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in for graphical user interface (GUI) configuration

• Firewall filtering and Internet Protocol security (IPsec) protection settings are integrated

• Exceptions can be configured for Active Directory directory service accounts and groups, source and destination IP addresses, IP protocol number, source and destination Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports, all or multiple TCP or UDP ports, specific types of interfaces, Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) and ICMP for IPv6 (ICMPv6) traffic by Type and Code, and for services

Supports both incoming and outgoing traffic
The new Windows Firewall supports firewalling for incoming traffic, dropping all unsolicited incoming traffic that does not correspond to either traffic sent in response to a request of the computer (solicited traffic) or unsolicited traffic that has been specified as allowed (excepted traffic). This is most crucial type of firewalling to have running on a computer, as it helps prevent the infection of computers by network-level viruses and worms that spread through unsolicited incoming traffic.

The new Windows Firewall supports firewalling for both incoming and outgoing traffic. For example, a network administrator can configure the new Windows Firewall with a set of exceptions to block all traffic sent to specific ports, such as the well-known ports used by virus software, or to specific addresses containing either sensitive or undesirable content.

The default behavior of the new Windows Firewall is to:

• Block all incoming traffic unless it is solicited or it matches a configured exception.

• Allow all outgoing traffic unless it matches a configured exception.
Click to expand...

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0106.mspx

clarabo · Jan 20, 2006

Thx for the info.

Insomniac · Jan 20, 2006

About time, but a welcome improvement, as is the inclusion of AntiSpyware (it will be called Defender)

I can still see a need for third party firewalls though, for those needing advanced features.

This scares me a bit "Allow all outgoing traffic unless it matches a configured exception".

Hard to say when we don't know what "configured exception" will be.

I understand why they are doing it this way, but I hope they come up with a secure method instead of pandering to newbees.

An Antivirus component also would be great in my opinion. (Didn't Windows 3.1 have it?)

tester36 · Jan 21, 2006

my concern is what about when you are hijacked and they get through and start using your address isn't that out going?

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MS Vista to include a proper two way Firewall

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MS Vista to include a proper two way Firewall

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