The Truth about Firewalls

Hi

My brother seems to think that because his (unsecured) wireless router has a double firewall, he doesn't require a firewall other than the windows one that comes installed on the OS.

I beg to differ and have Comodo installed on my computer. Is there a right or wrong answer to this?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks
MonkeyCat:confused

 

what is the os (xp, vista)? i'll be referring about xp here. from what i've been told, and read. windows firewall will block some incoming stuff (ports or whatever), and doesn't block outgoing. if you were to pick up some malware (ie - dialers, whatever), some of them want access to the internet, and your windows firewall won't block it (outgoing). this is where an aftermarket (commercial) firewall is better (it'll give you options).

i have never seen a router with a double firewall, but i could be wrong. some modems/routers have a hard firewall, and if you use an aftermarket (commercial), firewall it should complement your "hard" firewall.

now, from i've been told vista has a decent (better) firewall. i'm not sure if others run a different firewall or not, but i would. anyway, my .02 worth. i'm sure i'll be flamed if i'm wrong. g/l - sos

 

Only if you don't know how to do it.

See this thread

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=151170&highlight=vista+firewall

See in particular post#38

 

I sure don't understand.
My screenshot came from a Vista Home installation, because that was what the poster was using.
I don't see any registry hacks on it though. Just the standard settings user interface for the firewall.

 

Windows firewall certainly is configurable without reghacks, and not just in Business and Ult. There are some limitations of course, such as that you cannot make your own zones.

However, its not for the faint of heart.

The only difference in firewalls between the different versions of Vista is the presence of the group policy editor, which IIRC, was removed from SP1.

 

My NETGEAR 54 MBPS Wireless ADSL2+ Modem Router, Model DG834G has double Firewall Security. This is shown as a sticker on the outside of the packaging, and the quote below is from the blurb on the back.

Bazza
PS: Emms, great link explaining firewalls. :cool Baz

===

 

Thats marketting speak.

Its not a double firewall, and NAT is not a true firewall, either.

NAT is network address translation, SPI is stateful packet inspection, which is a function of the firewall built into the machine.

There is one, and only one firewall.

 

I'll second that.

We've had other instances of that m speak as well.

 

Hi all

I'm talking about XP. The info you've all provided is v interesting, but prob a bit over my head. Can you explain what the risks are of him using only Windows firewall and the "one" firewall on his router?

Thanks a lot
MC

 

Good pc user practice is far more important than whether or not you use a software firewall, let alone which one.

If you don't walk along a mainline railway track the risks of being hit by a train are very low.

Similarly if you avoid dodgy sources and don't surf the net as an administrator the risks are low. They can be made even lower by some simple settings to your system such as in Internet Explorer

Tools>Internet options>advanced>tick do not save encrypted pages to disk.

However if you do get phonehome' malware the XP firewall cannot prevent the malware attempting to access the net. You need third aprty software for this, unless you have something like the BT 2 wire router which can also do this at the router.

Hi Emms a firewall hopefully does more than just 'monitor'

I believe it was Nero who watched whilst Rome burned.

 

So remind me, what does the firewall in the router do?

 

Blocks inbound traffic usually. Those with SPI can also examine data on a per packet basis.

 

*looks around* i just got home and was wondering if i missed something (i never notice vista).

adrynalyne, what do you mean (sorry, learning curve). do you mean setting your ip range (own network) into your trusted zone? (of course i cropped what you said, but i believe you were talking about vista)?

once again. i thought that a hard firewall, would block incoming pings, and/or block certain ports? or is the port thing for outgoing only?

sorry, i don't mean to hijack this thread, just trying to clarify (which i'm sure would help monkeycat as well). thx, sos

 

Not at all. I actually typoed that horribly.

I meant it blocks INBOUND traffic. Sheesh, I can't believe I said outbound. rolleyes

When i said zone with the windows fw, I meant like MS already has it. You have a home and work zone. You cannot make a custom one. At least, not in anything less than Vista Business or Ultimate.

 

lol, he cheats!! j/k, i just noticed you edited your comment (passed 30 min, that is).

thx (for clarifying), i was wondering if i was wrong. :major - sos