A Good Firewall

[mooeypoo]

Hi hi again to all,

 

Well. We've recently upgraded my home computer (actually it's a 3 comp network) to ADSL 1.5Megs. Since my dad is concidered to be a business, the best way that my ISP offered him was using a static IP (they do that to all business clients).

 

Now.

 

My dad did that, but then got panicked when people told him that with a static IP it's easier to hack into the computer.

I find that utterly annoying and rediculous. Everyone knows that if someone wants to hack inside a comp, he can do that regardless of static or dynamic IP.

 

BUT, go argue with daddy.

Err

 

Anyways we have a router with built-in firewall, but I *hate* it. It's not all that user friendly, and it just blocks most of the ports and I can't even go into my own webpage control panel with that thing on.

 

So the question is this: Does anyone know of any GOOD firewall (the kind that is easy enough to handle so I won't have to run to the computer everytime my dad gets stuck) and powerful enough to truely avoid hackings and trojan "password jacking" and all those... and yet (here's the catch, and the reason I hate firewalls) a program that is NOT annoying and not stopping you from surfing 'cause every 4 seconds someone else is trying to scan your IP.

 

 

Err. I know its a lot to ask for from a firewall, mostly those things are BUILT to be annoying - which makes one wonder what he preffers. Annoyance or security.

 

 

 

Help please?

 

Thanks!

 

~moo

[Ms. DNA]

I have Norton Internet Security. It's stopped several Trojan attacks on my computer, and I don't think it's hard to handle. It does give you alerts when it senses an attack, but you can turn that off if you find it bothersome. You can also tell it to trust certain computers so they don't trigger alarms when they access your computer. There are a couple of drawbacks to it: it does slow my surfing down, at least it did when I first installed it. It's better once you train it which programs can access the Internet. The main problem that I'm still having with it is that often when I try to do something with the AntiSpam feature, it shuts down Outlook Express. I should check with Norton to see if they have a patch for it.

[Sayonara]

It probably shuts down OE because it's the world's biggest and most easily-commandeered remote spam generator.

[mooeypoo]

Yah, and it steals tons of RAM and it slows the computer and its taking the entire OS hostage.

I like the symantec antivirus, but their internet security is ANNOYING.. I tried it and got really tired of it jumping up every time some pimply nerd scans my ip address (which as you all know happens to everyone a lot).

 

And it slowed my comp to almost an entire halt.

 

I admire you for continuing using it I got real tired of it.

 

Say, are all the firewalls like that!? isn't there ONE program that can relatively protect my computer from hackings WITHOUT stealing the entire RAM and acting like a computer-god ?

 

~moo

[Sayonara]

Afaik there's no bullet-proof software firewall, although if you're behind a Unix gateway with a firewall on it there's a good chance nothing is ever going to reach you.

 

Hardware firewalls are apparently more preferable but I have no idea how much they cost as I've never looked into it.

[mooeypoo]

WOW you're fast

 

Yeah I know theres no bullet proof, hehe but concidering the fact that I doubt anyone would SERIOUSLY try extremely hard to hack my computer, I'm just looking for a simple enough program.. not even talking about hardware, we're not a big business with truely classified information, and we don't have much time messing with one. I know it's the best SECURITY solution, no doubt, but I am trying to find a solution that would be enough against simple hacks (like password trojans, stealing documents and such) without being too heavy on the system or on my young brain

 

Take int acount my dad knows NOTHING about firewalls. Or Ports.

I don't want to come running whenever he can't load a site or a net program.

 

There's gotta be a simple one out there.....

 

 

thanks

 

~moo

[Sayonara]

You can always use SSH to forward ports with a program like PuTTy, thereby bypassing the firewall. Then it won't matter how good the firewall is. I think.

 

There are tutorials on the web

[mooeypoo]

ROFL I will read 'em when I have the time. But if i do that, I'm "cracking" my own firewall, aren't I?

 

 

How's BlackICE by the way? Stupid or helpful?

 

 

~moo

[Sayonara]

Blackice is meant to be awful.

 

It's a big "attack here" sign for budding crackers.

[mooeypoo]

thought so.

 

So nothing else ? damn.

 

No SMALL friendly firewalls that only meant to prevent "small" hackers from getting into my computer?

 

how... annoying.

[Sayonara]

The free version of ZoneAlarm is the current favourite I think.

[Dave]

ZoneAlarm's quite good, although I haven't tried the free version. It is a bit annoying at first, but it does protect you against programs trying to access the internet that might be some kind of trojan/remote ddos/etc program.

[mooeypoo]

I'll check it out.

 

Thanks

[kenel]

Free Sygate or Kerio Personal firewall have worked the best for me. Zone Alarm is just too bulky for what it is -- it slows down your computer, connection, and is very annoying.

 

Zone Alarm, however, is fine if you've never used a computer before. Stay away from Norton, Mcafee, and Outpost.