Windows Firewall Notifier: Create Firewall Rules On The Fly

A Firewall is must have security tool that monitors incoming and outgoing traffic on a network and prevents unauthorized access from other sources. Windows 7 has a good built-in firewall, but many users don’t know how to use it well. Here is a simple to use tool called Windows Firewall Notifier that lets you create firewall rules on the fly.

Iolo Personal Firewall for free download

Basically a Firewall protects you from unwanted internet traffic. It filters the information coming into your system, and if the information does not pass through the filters, it is blocked from entering.

Windows have built-in Firewall, but with limited features. There are several third-party firewalls you can use, which have more functionality than Windows.

Iolo Personal Firewall is one of the best in this category and its proprietary IntelliDefense system takes out the guesswork normally associated with firewalls by using a comprehensive database to automatically decide which programs are safe and which are not. More details...

Features and benefits:

1. Proprietary IntelliDefense eliminates frustrating prompts using automatic program classification technology
2. Always-on protection that runs transparently in the background
3. Hassle-free setup protects your PC from the moment of installation
4. Stealth mode makes your PC invisible to hackers
5. Does not interfere with full-screen games or other software
6. Intuitive interface makes protecting your PC easy
7. Extremely efficient technology does not slow your system down

You can download (For Windows XP and Vista) a free copy of Iolo Personal Firewall at source. (via)

Online Armor v4 for Windows 7 Released

Online Armor Personal Firewall is a top rated firewall for Windows (see Firewall leak test result and comparison chart here). It provides a remarkable protection from inbound threats and has complete control of data leaving your computer for the internet.

It’s powerful "HIPS" functions give you the ability to stop all unrecognized programs from running on your computer.

As per the leak test results and comparison chart with other firewalls, Online Armor personal firewall free edition might be a perfect choice for home users.

The release version of Online Armor version 4 runs on Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 (32bit). Download the free version from here.

ZoneAlarm Pro firewall available for free on Tuesday (October 13)

Why a firewall? some functionality like preventing threats from remote login, blocking intruders from trying to access your computer, preventing installed programs like MS Word from making backdoor to your system, etc can only be provide with a firewall.

Moreover, a good software firewall has an important role to play in some particular cases such as when you planning to host a blog / website, connecting to a home or local network or playing games online, etc to protect against intrusion before they try to enter your computer.

Windows have built-in firewall, but unfortunately he is not enough to protect you from every threat. ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall is said to be one of the best, which includes two-way firewall, download monitoring, anti-phishing protection, plus a couple of advanced features.

For those interested, ZoneAlarm will give away free one year licenses to their ZoneAlarm Pro firewall on Oct 13 as part of their Patch Tuesday promo.

Visit here on 13 October to get ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall. [via]

Download new PC Tools Firewall plus for Windows 7

Whatever will be your antivirus program, a good software firewall is a must for total protection from computer viruses, because it can prevent intrusion even before they try to enter your computer. A good firewall always monitors network traffics and close open ports of your computer (through which other computer and installed applications communicate).

Windows has its own firewall, but many studies show that it is very weak and vulnerable to a lot of exploits. So, if you do not have a good firewall installed on your PC, then it is as good as having no firewall at all. Here is how to test Firewall’s efficiency?

PC Tools Firewall Plus is a powerful free personal firewall for Windows that monitors applications connect to the network and stops Trojans, backdoors, keyloggers and other malware.

The program is not designed just for experts; everyone can use it, because powerful prevention against attacks and known exploits is activated by default. Experienced users can optionally create their own advanced packet filtering rules, including IPv6 support, to customize the network defenses.

The new version is designed for Windows 7 (32/64bit), Vista (32/64bit) and XP (32bit). Download from here.

Firewall Leak Test Suite from Comodo

As I said earlier a good software firewall is a must for total protection from computer viruses, because it can prevent intrusion even before they try to enter your computer. If you do not have a good firewall installed on your PC, then it is as good as having no firewall at all. But, how can you test your Firewall’s efficiency?

Comodo HIPS and Firewall leak test suite can be use for this, which simulates a range of dangerous exploits including Root Kits, Background Intelligent Transfer attacks and process, injection attacks, etc.

Download and unzip it. Run the program by double clicking on clt.exe file. Now click on ‘Test’ button for analyzing. If your firewall passes the test, it should warn you that CLT.exe is trying to modify important system files. More information….

New Webroot Desktop Firewall (v.5.8) – an easy to use software Firewall for Windows Vista and XP

Most of you might have an antivirus program installed that you regularly updates but at times this precaution fails to live up to expectations, because an anti-virus can detects threats only after it entered in to the system (This is enough in most cases for an infection). Here comes the importance of a good software firewall. It prevents intrusion from Internet and infected Networks, even before they try to enter your computer.

A good firewall always monitors network traffics and close open ports of your computer (through which other computer and installed applications communicate). Windows operating system has its own firewall, but many studies show that it is very weak and vulnerable to a lot of exploits.

Webroot Desktop Firewall (V 5.8) is an easy to use firewall for Windows XP and Vista (32bit /64bit) that eliminates unauthorized access to your computer. Moreover, you can easily block IP address or website URL that you don’t want to access by just entering it from the main window or can mask the IP address of your computer form other infected networks or hackers.

Unlike the Windows XP and Vista Firewall, Webroot Desktop Firewall combines intelligent firewall technology with intrusion prevention for inbound and outbound protection that is both powerful and easy to use.

With this new Version (v.5.8), you can use your laptop anywhere as it automatically recognizes your Internet connection and sets the appropriate security settings

It recognizes trusted Programs, so reduces the number of false alarms by recognizing many known and trusted software programs and automatically allowing them Internet access. Additional programs can easily be added with a single click.

Webroot Desktop Firewall is fully compatible with the advanced 64-bit Windows Vista Service Pack 1 operating system. You can get more information and a free registration key for downloading and installation from webroot.

Comodo Firewall Pro - Free tool to stop Intrusion from Infected Networks and Internet

Why do you need a Firewall when you already have an antivirus solution? Well, some functionality like preventing threats from remote login, blocking others from trying to access files and applications from your computer, etc can only be provide with a firewall. And, some installed applications like MS word have features that allow remote access, this act as a backdoor to your computer that hackers try and exploit. A good software firewall alerts you any such activities.

And also, a good Firewall is a must in some particular cases such as when you planning to host a website, connecting to a home or local network or playing games online, etc to protect against intrusion before they try to enter your computer.

To protect your PC against such security threats, you required to run a software firewall (personal firewall) on your system. Though Windows XP SP2 and Vista are comes with built in firewall, but have only limited functionality. Firewall from Norton or McAfee are well known but costlier.

As an alternative, you can prefer Comodo Firewall pro, which is a free personal firewall that is almost as good as the ones you have to pay for.

Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0 has a completely redesigned security rules interface. Users can quickly set access rights and privileges on a global or per-application basis using the flexible and easy to understand interface. The firewall also contains pre-set policies and wizards that help simplify the rule setting process.

Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0 added another critical layer of protection - Defense Plus, which is one of the most advanced Host Intrusion Prevention Systems available in any desktop security program. Comodo’s White List Database of over 1 million trusted applications or new applications that you specifically allow to be installed. This feature prevents most types of malware and rootkits from being installed and keeps a new PC virus and malware free.

Online Armor- free personal Windows firewall

Online Armor Firewall is a light weight easy to use security product which provides remarkable protection from inbound threats and has complete control of data leaving your computer for the internet.

Online Armor personal firewall free edition is a perfect choice for home users. See the Firewall leak test result and comparison with other firewall here, which mark it as very good.

Online Armor includes powerful "HIPS" functions, which give you the ability to stop all unrecognized programs from running on your computer

unless you say so, making it possible to protect yourself against these new attacks. Compare Online Armor free edition with other editions and download it here.

Enterprise grade, host-based firewall for free download

The Third Brigade Deep Security firewall allows security policy to be defined on a per server basis, and enables continuous protection for physical, virtual and cloud computing servers.

This enterprise grade, centrally managed, host-based firewall defends mission critical servers from attack, and enforces corporate network traffic policies. And, it's now available, for free, for up to 100 servers.

Key features include:

• Stateful inspection bi-directional firewall
• Firewall rules can filter traffic on: IP addresses, Mac addresses, Ports. Different policies for each network interface can be configured. Detect reconnaissance activities such as port scan.
• Pre-defined firewall profiles for common enterprise server types (LDAP, DHCP, FTP, Database, etc) ensuring rapid, easy deployment even in large, complex networks
• Real-time visibility and control with detailed logging, alerting, dashboards, and flexible reporting. Firewall configuration changes are audited so history of what policy changes have been made and who made the changes is captured.
• Integrates with leading Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions

Key Benefits

• Proactively prepare for cloud computing by deploying location-aware security policy for computing resources, making it possible to move safely from internal to external clouds
• Maintain consistent security policy and ensure control of virtual machines regardless of cloud computing vendor
• Maintain audit trail and compliance of systems (SAS 70, PCI DSS, HIPAA and more) as they move to the cloud

Download Firewall

USB Firewall prevent threats from USB devices

USB flash devices are an excellent storage medium and are available in different storage capacity. These handy devices are very easy to carry data, but it also becomes a big door for the spread of malwarer such as ‘auto run’ viruses.
USB Firewall is an application designed to block automatic execution of applications on a USB memory. The application runs in background task and alerts you immediately in case of try of intrusion.
You can stop the program and delete the file associated with. USB Firewall doesn’t need any virus definition update. USB Firewall can also clean your hard disk partition from auto launched application.
USB Firewall is not an antivirus, but it can be used as a complement to our security solution