Computer help forum: Is a Firewall really necessary?

You shoud have a firewall,I provided some links for you to check out.

Click HERE and HERE

Tom

While it is true that actual hackers aren't likely interested in your particular system, unless you given them reason to be, there are still plenty of automated probe programs that seek out random computers and hijack them.

Given Microsoft's rather lax nature about patching security exploits in its software, simply having all the latest patches installed isn't always good enough. This is where a firewall would come in. ZomeAlarm and it's like are rather pitiful examples of a firewall, but they do a decent enough job of blocking the automated probes mentioned earlier.

I tend to prefer the firewall you'd find in a router myself. For one, most routers today have a firmware based on Linux, and so make use of the excellent iptables firewall. At the very least, they're usually stateful firewalls, which are considerably better than the like of ZoneAlarm which is stateless. Secondly, the firewall is running on its own dedicated hardware. I don't have yet another program vying for my system's resources. Third, I can set one policy and have it affect any number of systems behind that router's firewall. Four, I'm not bothered by repeated pop ups that are worded in such a way as to scare the security illiterate into thinking they would be better protected by buying the pay version of the software, and then any other services that company might offer. Five, bugs in a router's firmware aren't nearly as disruptive as bugs in a software program running on my computer. I could go on, but I think the point is clear.

One of the best things you can do for securing your computer, is to not use Internet Explorer or Outlook/Outlook Express. The latest security threat is spyware (and others have a veritable cornucopia of other terms for slight variations). That is, little programs that sit silently on your computer, monitoring your activity and reporting back. Some of these could easily be used to steal bank and credit card info, as well as everything needed to commit identity theft. The primary means by which these programs get on your computer, is Internet Explorer and Outlook/Outlook Express. So, to limit the avenues of these programs infesting your system, it's strongly advisable you use one of these three browsers (all others are based on IE). Mozilla Firefox, Seamonkey or Opera. All three are free, all three should pick up most of your IE settings (including Favorites), and all three currently have no known vulnerability to spyware. You can pretty much have your pick of email clients, but I might recommend Mozilla Thunderbird or the supplied email program with Seamonkey.

If you want to see if/how much spyware you currently have on your system, try downloading the program Ewido and seeing what it finds. If it finds anything, you'll also want to download AdAware, Spybot S&D, and Microsoft's Anti-Spyware. Sadly, no one program will clean up everything. Any problems with these programs, or getting rid of some pests, can be posted over on the security forum here.

Put it this way, "if you don't have home insurance and house burns down, what are going to do"?

Simply put, you may not need a firewall, 100% of the time but when present and does its job, the world continues on. Alot depends on your surfing habits plus if you've a "constant on link" to the web. If yes to that, its best to provide a minium of protections as trolling from malware sites or similar are always looking for a weak nodes and you may not knowe it until much later if unprotected. there are free firewalls that provide basic protection and the reason its free is because in that service alone your system isn't part of a larger problem of the web malware at large whatever form it takes. Get a firewall

tada -----Willy

although it is a good idea.

If you KNOW that your computer has nothing running to service ports to the outside world you have no need for a firewall.

Of course if you were aware of this you wouldn't have to ask the question in the first place.

IE is NOT the problem nor is Microsoft nor is Firefox not Opera, the problem is the user not setting up computer security and maintaining it and the user downloading and installing "neat things" they have heard about or seen and thus INVITING outside access.

A firewall provides an additional layer of security even to those who know what is running and take security seriously (such as not browsing the Internet on an account that has Admin Priviledges) so yes it is a good idea and wise precaution but NO it is not necessary.

At least not without verifying the information from two unrelated sources first.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/21/wmf_fud_from_grc/

The second page contains a list of some of Steve Gibson's (the person behind grc.com) career "highlights", in addition to the bulk of the article explaining exactly how he's wrong in this particular case and talking out his arse.

By your very own argument, I could turn right back around and say we shouldn't trust GRC, because it's only one link.

With the link I provided, you're given all the information needed to start doing a little research into the validity of the claims. You can also go to security sites like SecurityFocus, and scan through the BugTraq archives to see what real security experts have to say about Gibson.

On the one hand, you can research and verify what is contained within the article I linked, and even find opinions of other security experts who take dim views of Gibson's prattlings. Or you can do some research and discover that once you get beyond the basics, no one else seems to corroborate Gibson's claims/findings. Either way, if you take the time to do a little looking, it's not hard to find that Gibson shouldn't be taken seriously, and listening to him is to give yourself a false sense of security about your computer's security and eventually pay a very heavy price.

While probably a bit harder to take seriously based on the name of the domain, they do have quite the collection of links for your perusal.

http://www.grcsucks.com/

I've read both pro's and cons for a firewall and feel it depends on how you are connected to the internet. If you are going through a router you can probably get by without one on your computer since most routers are whats called a hardware firewall. Now if your directly connected through a cable,DSL, or phone modem then you defenately need a software firewall. I have SBC Yahoo and their security suite has E-Trust EZ Antivirus and a spyware app. called anti-spy and i believe they offer Zone-Alarm for a firewall.I'm on a wireless router with WinXP so i use the built-in Windows firewall with the router along with the Windows Defender anti-spyware program from Microsoft and it seems to work well, I stay virus and spyware free and have not been hacked as far as I know. Of course i also have encryption enabled on the wireless network as well. So in summary it is up to you to use what you feel is needed to secure yourself. I myself believe that most hackers aren't interested in common people, it just isn't worth there time to hack individual computers. However it is better safe than sorry.

Not a computer leaves the shop without at least the free version of Zone Alarm Firewall on it. (And of course, the worthless Win XP Firewall disabled). Also included is the free version PopUp Stopper from Panicware. Include: Hijack This, AdAware, Spybot and an anti-virus (we prefer Norton) and you're set. About as good as you can "easily" get for reasonable protection.

I've been told to stay away from firewall software solutions. Since the firewall is running in a Windows environment, it suffers from the security problems of Windows.

If you are really concerned about someone hacking your network, you should look into a hardware solution like Cisco or Netscreen.

They make small boxes that are specifically designed for this and are more difficult to hack than a Windows based solution. But even with one of these hardware firewalls, you will still need to know how to configure it properly to block hackers.

Kind of like do you need a "latch" on the front door of your home or a bank vault door.

Hi Peter, You most definitely need a firewall. Don't believe that the ''bad guys'' are only looking for the ''big guys''. Hackers and other pests spend their time trying to get into anyones PC and wreak havoc. They can cause all kinds of problems that you probably blame on your OS or human error. I have been using Zonealarm for 3 years and it as blocked thousands of attempts to get ino my PC. It also can stop outgiing programs that may send out your personal information. You should also run anti-spyware programs like AdAware Personal and Spybot Search and Destroy, both free, as is Zonealarm for personal use. Also Avast Anti-virus is a great free solution and automatically updates. Any PC connecting to the internet should run these programs, Also, Peter you should consider going to Windows XP, your PC experience would improve greatly. Good Luck !! Wendy