Posted: 11/4/2010 3:43:13 PM EDT
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Last week I got a new PC and I'm interested in adding a software firewall. The OS is Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit. My need is for controlling outbound network connections from the box.
My current security precautions are as follows: 1. Hardware firewall providing NAT and SPI/cable modem (an SMC D3G). 2. Microsoft Security Essentials, set for automatic updates. 3. Anti-malware hosts file. 4. I use Firefox with AdBlock Plus. I have used NoScript in the past and found it too intrusive. 5. I use OpenDNS with some content filtering. 6. Windows is set for automatic updates. 7. Windows Firewall is enabled. 8. I use Foxit Reader to view PDFs. If I ever need to use Adobe Reader I have Javascript disabled in it. On my MacBook Pro running OS X I use Little Snitch to alert me to outbound connections and control network access from programs running on the machine. I'm looking for something equivalent for Windows. I don't need a "security suite." (Please don't say Linux. I've been using Linux since Slackware 3.4, and I have Ubuntu running in a VirtualBox VM in case I need to visit a questionable site.) Thanks. |
| With Windows 7 you can configure outbound firewall rules via the built in Firewall. The default setting is "outbound connections that do not match a rule are allowed" but you can change it. Vista didn't support outbound rules, but Win7 has what you need. You just need to configure the rules to behave the way you want based upon your threat profile and desires. |
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http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive-security-challenge/results.php
Note TallEmu products i.e. onllinearmor are not included in the results any longer. ETA: I use Comodo firewall |