Im sure people have had long term debates about this
or its been posted before, so forgive me if it has been posted
I just need to know what everyone else is using these days which is freeware
(people using freeware firewall only,thanks)

kerio has a sand box too

Ok I've said it before and say it again, and despite the fact that yes it does look like a sygate clone jetico personal firewall blocks almost everything and it is free...well the older version that is. I have it running on my other computer not this one because other people use this computer other then myself and when they do they always come running to me saying "ok what should i do?" if they are using the computer running jetico because they can't seem to understand the concept of allowing or not allowing things nor do they know which things to alloy or deny.

Jetico is a licenced clone of Sygate from what I remember , like Lavasoft firewall is a licenced clone of Outpost.

Licensed clone of sygate....? Well either way sygate is no longer a personal firewall solution because now symantec owns them. Anyway jeticos free version seems to have more options then sygates old free version and it seems to do a better job all around. I had sygate pro for a while but anyone who has had that with a "bad" serial knows what happens. So for the moment until something better that is free comes along I will use jetico as I prefer security over ease of use.

Thanks for the replies people
deathdrone could you tell me what file version is the free version that you are
using. By the way has any one heard about a firewall called SecurWall ?

Well I can do one better by telling you I believe it's 1.0.3.8 and that it's available here
There is also a public beta for version 2 that they have on jetico.com but since the version 1 was the rated one I went with that it's the most up to date version of version one that I'm using.

Cheers for the info & link deathdrone I will give it a shot.

I haven't seen much about securwall , but I did notice this thread at wilders :
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=100177

Securwall seems to be free only if you purchase their other software first.

Some other free firewalls that I haven't tried are :

http://www.ghostsecurity.com/ghostwall/
http://www.r-firewall.com/

I did try Comodo recently and it sucked big time.

i'm still looking around - the free ashampoo is poo poo- can't add individual ips to block, little overall control- can only really block specific ports- ooooh!

ddd

I tested that out also dingdongding, I thought it was pretty watered down for a firewall, lack of options etc
dread to see what their pro version offers lol

Thanks for those links Moore, I agree about Comodo - easily penertrated! Seem to fail on a lot of tests.
I think it was hyped up a bit too much. Btw which firewalls do you all currently use ?
Ok on with my quest of analyzing and trying out free-ware firewalls

i was using the old free outpost one- looks like jetico did relatively well on security tests eg http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php
not that the ones listed above are on there though- i'm checking ghost wall in a few

ashampoo failed one of the major tests i used

i like jetico- has passed the tests so far

ghost i wasn't a fan of user friendly wise

Ghost firewall looked cool but imo did not do practically anything...I wouldnt' recommend that.

I have tried Zone Alarm, Sygate, Kerio, and Outpost, and I have to say, I love Outpost the best..after that probably Kerio or ZA, Sygate wasnt a favorite of mine.

after all the free soft fwalls i've tried i would have to say to bite the bullet and pay for outpost - the free ones you can't import ips en masse-if you're not doing any p2p etc then it's not as big of a deal though

I was using Jetico (no longer free) for a while. Though it was a bit archaic I liked it, but ran into compatability issues with other software, it's been awhile, but if I remember correctly it clashed with peerguardian and or maybe snoopfree which I needed to keep Partypoker from repeatedly screenshotting me.

I tried Ashampoo as well, I agree, poo poo nuff said

The old best free firewall was Sygate, for sure. But since it had gone away and I couldn't find a copy I kept going back to the last good Zonealarm 4.5.94 pre bloat, pre crappy antivirus, pre phone home spy? issues. But after a while using BT with it I noticed that vsmon.exe had some kind of memory leak or something. The longer I left my pc on the more memory vsmon would use, after a couple of days it would be using well over 100mb. Obviously not acceptable.

Just recently I tried Comodo for the first time currently version 2.4.16.174 I don't know about the earlier versions, but it has evolved into a very impressive full featured firewall. It seems pretty light on resources, it is currently using 11mb on my system. It seems to get along well with peerguardian and processguard and the developers seem very devoted to keeping it passing all leaktests. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good free firewall.

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

first of all I'm new here, so Hi!

maybe this will help you in choosing the right firewall:
http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-p...sts-results.php

as you see both Comodo & Jetico are a good choice
I'm using Comodo, although it needs a little patience
it's not so user friendly as I'd like to

I haven't tested Jetico yet, so I can't tell you anything about it

giving comodo a try now but it didn't fare well on the major tests (at least prior versions didn't- i'll run it thru tests myself to see)

http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php

comodo passed the 6 tests i did (stealth test, pc audit 1/2 etc)- good stuff so far- didn't do all the major tests
BUT
they do more than offer free firewalls:
http://www.comodo.com/news/press_releases/23_05_07.html

like doing work for law enforcement etc

I like the way outpost 4 handles its daily chores, so a big thumbs up from me re outpost couldnt get on with ZA, it didn't like the way I ran my pc and tried to do it for me, so it had to go. Not sure if grisoft released a free firewall to go with their awful free AV, in my opinion the worst AV of them all.

Does anyone know if the anti-spyware on the latest outpost is worth its salt at all???

Yes, Outpost is indeed excellent, but it is not free.

I'm testing Comodo and it works excellent
once you have set up the rules properly.
It passes every leak-test I have tried, nmap can't scan the host etc .
But it is new and US-made, has (or had) an annoying activation/licensing
process requiring e-mail verification and download of a license-file so
I can't say that I trust it 100% yet but so far it seems solid .
Rules-based firewalls are not the easiest to set up but they do
give superior control once you learn how the rules work .

avg is classifed as "fair" but there are 2 better free avs out there compared to avg (they tested 7.1 not 7.5)

source http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,124475-page,1/article.html


score 78 out of 100

AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 6.32
AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 6.32
• Performance: Good
• Ease of Use: Good
• Features: Fair
• Price when ranked: Free

AntiVir performed the best of the free programs, although it failed to clean several old macro viruses.
(Last Rated: January 25, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
....

score 77

Alwil Software Avast Home Edition 4.6
Alwil Software Avast Home Edition 4.6
• Performance: Fair
• Ease of Use: Very Good
• Features: Good
• Price when ranked: Free


...

score 73

Grisoft AVG Free Edition 7.1
Grisoft AVG Free Edition 7.1
• Performance: Fair
• Ease of Use: Fair
• Features: Fair
• Price when ranked: Free

I did not provide any info at all on install, though it does ask.

On restart it downloaded a lifetime license without any further requests for info.

It does indeed seem Comodo has fixed their act up.
Over all best firewall I have been testing so far has been outpost firewall
wether free or pro version both offer the blockpost plugin
and that its self has got to be one of the best features (plugins)
this firewall has against all the other firewalls out there.

I could mention many more features but im sure theres up to a million
other outpost veterans who have mentioned this over and over before lol.

Heres another I came across which im yet to check out and see if its
any good - http://www.filseclab.com/eng/

Filseclab Firewall - Its listed as free for all
if anyone has tried this out yet then please do post here about it . thanks.

I would say use Outpost Pro. It has 30 days free. Save your configuration settings and just redownload and reinstall it after 30 days and reload your settings. That is pretty easy. I fell in love with the firewall so I bought it. Just my opinion

had make a post about the Blink Personal Edition Firewall

look here:

http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=15806

maybe worth to check out! i´m happy with outpost 3.0 !

Sabu

just a note for the paranoid for the record

comodo does work for law enforcement groups and the like (actually hey have customers of all kinds)

more info:

http://www.comodo.com/news/press_releases/23_05_07.html

LETIX, (Law Enforcement Technology Information Exchange) selects Comodo to provide authentication and online identity assurance best practices
Comodo provides LETIX Mutual Authentication technology to enable secure and authenticated access to sensitive data.
Jersey City, NJ (May 22, 2007) - Comodo, a global Certification Authority and leading provider of Identity and Trust Assurance (ITA) Management solutions, announced today that LETIX has selected Comodo to protect, secure and authenticate access to its database that houses sensitive financial information. LETIX, a not for profit organization supporting law enforcement’s need for real time fraud data, will benefit from advanced authentication technologies that will ensure only authorized access to this sensitive information.

Comodo's Mutual Authentication Solution is based on strong Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and includes Two Factor (TF) client certificates for LETIX authentication of the User and Content Verification Certificates (CVCs) to enable the User to verify the authenticity of the LETIX login box. Together, this provides the only PKI based solution that is both secure and user-friendly.

"The continued advances in authentication technologies allow us to offer this new level of access for LETIX subscribers so they can access the data securely even though they are using diverse technical platforms." said Melih Abdulhayoglu, CEO and Chief Security Architect of Comodo. "By working with leading law enforcement companies like LETIX, we are able to deliver an integrated, best of breed solution without risking the security or safety of their subscribers."

COMODO MUTUAL AUTHENTICATION SOLUTION SUMMARY
1) Two Factor (TF) Client Certificates for a High-Performance, Low Cost Solution with Easy Integration
The Comodo Two Factor solution provides the ability for LETIX to authenticate the identity of a user trying to log in. Comodo TF installs a digital certificate onto a subscriber's PC, converting the PC into a "smart token". Comodo TF offers significant advantages over other two-factor options:

Comodo is one of the only PKI based two factor solutions offered by a Certification Authority. PKI is considered one of the strongest forms of authentication available for online security.
One of the lowest costing two factor solutions due to an established PKI infrastructure and digital certificate lifecycle management processes
High level of flexibility and configurability
Solutions can be deployed in days
2) Content Verification Certificates (CVC) ensure subscribers can be protected from phishing, pharming, and man-in-the-middle attacks
The second part of the mutual authentication model includes Comodo's unique Content Verification Certificates that authenticates web content (such as a log-in box or graphics) to authenticate site identity. This is the only digital certificate on the market today that protects against man-in-the middle attacks as this solution alone delivers green "good to go" indicator confirming site identity. LETIX subscribers will be able to verify LETIX's site identity using a reader called VerificationEngine™ which can be used to authenticate the identity of over 200,000 home page logos.

"LETIX is designed as a collaborative community of law enforcement, credit card companies and financial institutions, so maintaining intuitive yet highly-secured access was a key requirement. We are committed to the PCI security standards, and our partnership with Comodo helps us meet and exceed the high standards we set for ourselves alongside the industry standards," said Mr. Dean Heistad, CTO of LETIX. "It is paramount, therefore, that we offer a best practices authentication process that provides full authentication but does not impede a user's ability to get into the system. We are excited to work with Comodo to provide this level of authentication that reflects a best practice approach advocated by government guidelines, yet within a process that our stakeholders will be able to use easily."

For more information, please visit www.comodo.com/banking

About LETIX:
LETIX, (Law Enforcement Technology Information Exchange), is a not-for-profit 501©3 charitable organization connecting the financial services industry with law enforcement agencies. Our goal is to deliver technology and services that streamline and increase the effectiveness of identity theft and fraud related investigations for both financial services institutions and law enforcement agencies. The LETIX team includes veterans from the financial services, law enforcement, investment, and information technology industries. For more information about LETIX and access to LUCID, please contact partners@letix.org.

About Comodo
Comodo, through its group of Internet security companies, is a leading Certification Authority and global provider of Identity and Trust Assurance services on the Internet. Comodo secures and authenticates online transactions and communications for over 2,000,000 businesses and consumers.

With a global presence Comodo offers businesses and consumers third-generation solutions for intelligent security and authentication technologies that create trust online. Comodo's technological expertise includes PKI digital certification, Code signing certification, integrated authentication infrastructure services, Web Content authentication, Secure messaging solutions, regulatory compliance solutions, and digital e-commerce services.

For additional information on Comodo - Creating Trust Online™ visit http://www.comodo.com/

For more information, media representatives should contact
Charles Marshall
LETIX
1 (415) 297-1226
Email: info@letix.org

Judy Shapiro
Comodo
(201) 963-9471
Email: judy.shapiro@comodo.com

TallEmu's Online Armor, probably easiest to configure and operate, very effective see
http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-...nge/results.php

Ignore Online Armor in first place, it's the paid version; the free version is third place and has fewer compatibility troubles than Online Armor. Although I prefer OA, my guess is that any firewall in Matousec's top 5 or 7 will suffice.

Online Armor Free.

Yeah, go to Matousec (http://www.matousec.com/) they have great tests and reports. I prefer Outpost personally. I know its not free. Before I paid for it I used Comodo and cranked the settings up manually. Didn't use the auto configuration.

bump from a dinosaur! wondering which free firewalls you're using nowadays- jetico has passed it's usefulness to me- it can't remember good connections, it's constantly asking for permission.

great to see bluetack still kickin

ddd

still using kerio,now owned by sunbelt.
its a shared pc and works well enough for us